09Oct 2022 by Rogan Wolf

New Collection – Poems for Rising Ten

poems for display in schools, Poems for...the waiting room, public poetry, Uncategorized
This project's latest collection was launched in October 2022. "Poems for Rising Ten" is for children approaching the end of their time in primary school. There are 25 poems in all, each one accompanied by art work. In most cases, the images are not  literal illustrations as such. I think they offer something richer than illustration, carrying or suggesting the spirit of the words, rather than prescribing shapes for them. They are by Rachel Stevens who has given her work free to this project. The poems have been uploaded here on this website. As with all the other poems we reproduce, they are available free of charge. To access the new poems for viewing and/or downloading, you'll need to register with us. For that, see the horizontal menu along the…
Read More
18Oct 2020 by Rogan Wolf

“Modern Poetry in Translation” and “The Reader”

poems for display in schools, Poems for the NHS, Poems for...one world, Poems for...the waiting room, public poetry
"Poems for the wall" has began some collaborative work with two organisations : "Modern Poetry in Translation" and "The Reader." On the face of it, these organisations, or projects, are quite different. But they have in common a belief in, and a commitment to, honest words of high quality and integrity, true witness, in whatever language and whatever form ; and to a need for those words to reach out to people far and wide and find them where they are. It is unclear, as yet, quite where this exploratory work will go. So far, it has brought the material available on this site to the attention of the large numbers of people in The Reader's "constituency" ; and has resulted in an agreement with Clare Pollard of MPT that…
Read More
28Oct 2019 by Rogan Wolf

Exhibition of Bilingual Poems in Clifton Cathedral

poems for display in schools, Poems for...one world, poems on mental health, public poetry
  Here is a link to some photographs of poems displayed, greatly enlarged,  on the walls of Clifton Cathedral in the Spring of 2019. Just click on the first image and it will expand. Then keep clicking on an arrow that appears on the right of each picture, to take you through to the end of the series, at your own speed. There is a slightly different selection of the photos brought together as a Facebook "Album." If you are on Facebook you can find it here.   Canon Bosco runs Clifton Cathedral and it was he who suggested that a balcony within the building, prominent but little used, could be used for an exhibition of the project's poems. You will see from the pictures that the cathedral does not conform…
Read More
18Dec 2018 by Rogan Wolf

Poems Displayed on Plasma Screens

poems for display in schools, Poems for the NHS, Poems for...one world, Poems for...the waiting room, public poetry, Uncategorized
The plasma display screen is now common in all kinds of public settings, including schools, libraries and healthcare waiting rooms. So here is yet another form of screen for the eye to rest on, when already there are so many. And is "resting" the right word ? The screens' contents tend not be passive. Many reach out and seek to arrest the eye, both for good and for ill. They have the power to penetrate minds. For ill and for good. Recently, I was sitting in a village surgery waiting room and the large display screen there showed a succession and range, not just of health notices, but also of local resources, opportunities, activities, things supportive of health and humanity in individuals and community. It was full of real interest,…
Read More
27Jul 2018 by Rogan Wolf

Poems for…the wall in Bristol, Summer 2018

70th birthday of the NHS, poems for display in schools, Poems for the NHS, Poems for...one world, Poems for...the waiting room, Poems in Turkish, poems on mental health, public poetry, Uncategorized
When "Poems for... the wall" was piloted in London twenty years ago, it was a local affair. Some small poem-posters were put up in NHS waiting rooms in Hammersmith and Kensington. However, as the project became quickly better known and demand spread, it lost contact with an immediate locality. The poems went out far and wide, around the UK and then beyond, first by post and later digitally, downloaded from this website. In those circumstances, the co-ordinator's bike tended to stay at home and I knew rather little of what actually happened to the poems, once they arrived at their destination. But now I'm in Bristol and the bike is out again. Earlier this hot Summer of 2018, two local schools exhibited poems from the "Self at Sea" collection as…
Read More
10Jun 2018 by Rogan Wolf

What’s Italian for “Poems for…the Wall” ?

poems for display in schools, Poems for...one world, poems on learning disability, poems on mental health, public poetry, Uncategorized
A really nice article about this project has recently been published in a good Italian arts website called "Margutte." The piece was initially written in English, mostly for this site. But then Margutte's editor, Silvia Pio, edited the text  of the English with great skill and good judgement, making it an article. She then translated it into her own Italian and uploaded the article in both languages. Click on http://www.margutte.com/?p=26369&lang=en for the English version. (NB. The link only goes live once you have clicked on "Read More").
Read More
04Jun 2018 by Rogan Wolf

Reaching into Bristol – new partnerships

poems for display in schools, Poems for...one world, poems on mental health, public poetry, Uncategorized
Based these days in Bristol, "Poems for...the wall" has started to work in partnership with the Bristol Poetry Institute. The BPI is based in the literature department of Bristol University. The BPI has not only procured some seed money for us, but has also been greatly helpful in providing local contacts and opportunities. Thanks to that sponsorship, a small exhibition of the project's bilingual poem-posters is currently on display in a popular university café called Beacon House, near the Wills Memorial Building at the top of  Queens's Road. For, like many another university of the present day, Bristol University brings together students and staff from all over the world, representing a huge range of different mother-tongues. It means, of course, that large numbers of young people are spending a great…
Read More
29Nov 2017 by Rogan Wolf

“Poems for the wall” breaks surface in the south west

poems for display in schools, Poems for...one world, Poems for...the waiting room, poems on learning disability, poems on mental health, public poetry, Uncategorized
A very good international magazine called "Resurgence," based in Devon, did a feature on the project in August this year. Click here for the online version. And during November, an exhibition of the project's bilingual poems went up in a busy public setting run by Bristol University. The poems make a strong public statement of mutual tolerance. Tolerance ? More than tolerance. They celebrate our difference, richly. They glory in it. They make poetry of it. Over the next few months, we shall be exploring further ways of displaying these poems in Bristol settings, run both by the university and the City Council. "Poems for the wall" has begun working with the Bristol Poetry Institute, based in Bristol University. See their website here.
Read More
06Aug 2017 by Rogan Wolf

Six Developments for Summer 2017

poems for display in schools, Poems for...one world, Poems for...the waiting room, poems on learning disability, poems on mental health, public poetry
Our new title - Poems for...the wall. It makes clearer the fact that we supply poems for public space. It doesn't affect the titles of our collections. This new website - It is almost finished now. It is striking to look at ; it is technically up to the mark ; it is simple to use. Thanks Joe. Our "three main collections" have now become five. The two new ones are "Poems for...self at sea" (on mental ill-health) ; and "Poems for...bridges to learning disability" (on learning disability). You will find them on this site in the "Poem Collections" menu. A new base in Bristol - we can now be found on the website of the Bristol Poetry Institute. Find us here :  http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/research/poetry-institute/poetry/ Some new publicity - a good feature on Poems for...the…
Read More