Launched in 1992 by the Poetry Society of America and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Poetry in Motion® is today one of the most popular public literary programs in American history.

Poetry in Motion® places poetry in the transit systems
of cities throughout the country, helping to create a national readership for both emerging and established poets.

Over the past 15 years the Program has appeared in over twenty cities, including:

Amherst, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Boise, Chicago,
Dallas, Fresno, Fort Collins, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New
York, Philadelphia, Portland, Salt Lake City, the Twin Cities, and Washington D.C.

Search the Poetry in Motion® Atlas to find poems and posters that have appeared in the program throughout its history.


Responses to the program

  • They are a delight; I smile every time I find a new one…Please continue to place these signs of humanity in among the monotony of the bus and other transportation. —Susie Estrada
  • I just want to thank you for some of the wonderful poems you've put up over the last few years.
    —Karen Romeo
  • So nice to see art and poetry instead of advertisements.
    —Al Rivera
  • Reading the poems while I am in transit helps me to realize and remember that there is so much more to life than just earning money.
    —Judith Mary Gee
  • This is just great…helps keep people's mind occupied on something positive. It's kind of rough riding the bus.
    —Ken Wimberley
  • Finding a poem on a bus is like a gift. It makes people realize they are not alone. I love the fact that the poems are at eye level because the words capture people.
    —Roni Walter


Publications

The Poetry in Motion® program has generated several publications which are available in bookstores across the country.
Poetry In Motion® From Coast To Coast was published by W. W. Norton (2002) and includes 120 poems from subways and buses across the country.

Poetry In Motion®: 100 Poems from the Buses and subways was published by W. W. Norton (1996) and was selected as a Best Book for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association and the American Library Association
Poetry in Motion® Postcard Book, which preserves the poems in their original poster layout, was published by Marlowe & Co. (1996)


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Poetry in Motion® is a joint registered trademark of the Poetry Society of America and MTA/New York City Transit Authority.