Poetry in motion on the Tube

10 Jul 2013 03:53 PM

Look out for a new set of Poems on the Underground on Tube trains over the next few weeks.

The latest collection reflects places and sights across the Capital as imagined by poets spanning two centuries.

The collection includes works by William Blake, R.P. Lister, Thom Gunn, Andrew Waterman, Francis Thompson and Grace Nichols.

Poems on the Underground was launched in 1986.

The verses are displayed on posters in 3,000 advertising spaces in train carriages across London, and are usually changed three times a year.

It was the idea of American writer Judith Chernaik, who wanted to bring poetry to a wider audience.

She said: 'London life and its pulsing transport network have often inspired our greatest poets.

'I hope both commuters and tourists will enjoy this latest set of poems.'

To celebrate the Tube's 150th anniversary, a new edition of the Poems on the Underground book has been published by Penguin.

It contains many of the verses that have been displayed in Tube carriages since the programme started.

It is available for £16.99 from the London Transport Museum shop in Covent Garden, and online at www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk