Transport for London has announced a programme of activity to mark the Poems on the Underground 40th anniversary, recognising four decades of poetry displayed across the London Underground network.
Since its launch in 1986, the scheme has brought poetry into everyday journeys, reaching millions of travelling customers all across London each year.
A commemorative event will take place at Bank Tube station on Friday 30 January.
London poets whose work has appeared as part of the programme are being invited to attend, alongside staff poets and members of the public with an interest in poetry. The event is intended to formally mark the Poems on the Underground 40th anniversary.
To coincide with this anniversary milestone, a revised edition of 100 Poems on the Underground has been released, featuring poets ranging from Sappho and Shakespeare to Kamau Brathwaite and Wendy Cope. There will also be additions by poets like Jean Binta Breeze to reflect poems shown during the project’s first five years.
A new winter collection of Poems on the Underground will launch on 9 February. This set includes works by contemporary British poets, including “Syzygy” by Rachel Boast, “A Short Piece of Choral Music” by Jonathan Davidson, and “Narcissus” by Blake Morrison. It also features a haiku by Kobayahsi Issa with original calligraphy by Yukki Yaura, alongside poems by Romanian poet Mircea Dinescu and American poet Jane Hirshfield.
As part of the Poems on the Underground 40th anniversary activity, poems will also be displayed at selected stations, extending the programme beyond train carriages. These locations include Aldgate East, Heathrow, Seven Sisters, St. John’s Wood, and Westminster.
Later in the year, TfL will publish a free leaflet titled 40 poems for 40 years of Poems on the Underground. The leaflet will be available at London Underground stations and is intended to highlight well known poems from the scheme’s history, alongside the summer edition of Poems of the Underground.
Justine Simons OBE, London’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, said: “For the past 40 years, ‘Poems on the Underground’ have given us moments of reflection, joy, solace and so much more as we make our way through the hustle and bustle of the Tube. Much loved by Londoners as part of the familiar furniture of our city, they are incredibly popular with visitors too. Art and culture are for everyone and ‘Poems on the Underground’ bring creative inspiration to millions every day, helping us build a better London for everyone.”
Mark Evers, Chief Customer Officer at TfL, said: “For four decades, ‘Poems on the Underground’ has been a vital part of London’s cultural fabric, turning millions of minutes spent travelling into moments of reflection and joy. As we celebrate this 40th anniversary, we honour the poetry that connects us, and we look forward to sharing more fantastic poems for many years to come.”
Judith Chernaik, Founder, Poems on the Underground, said: “We start the new year – our 40th – with poems of widely different times and places, all offering hope for better times as Winter gives way to Spring.”
All poems displayed across the Tube network since the founding of Poems on the Underground in 1986 are available in their original poster format on the Poems on the Underground website at https://poemsontheunderground.org/.
