Press Release

A Poetic Commute 

The Poetry Foundation Unveils its New CTA Advertising Campaign 

 

Originally Published: December 21, 2017
Poetry Foundation flyer featuring Nate Marshall and Parneshia Jones

The Poetry Foundation shines a light on Chicago’s thriving poetry community with a new advertising campaign. Photographs highlighting some of Chicago’s literary stars will be on display along with snippets of their work. From January 1 through February 25, 2018, 42 different advertisements will appear at 15 “L” stations on the Green, Red, Blue, Brown and Orange lines.  

“Chicago’s poets are the unsung stars of the city’s literary and arts community,” says Marketing and Media Director, Elizabeth Burke-Dain. “The Poetry Foundation wanted to showcase these artists for all Chicagoans, and what better place than the ‘L’?”

The Poetry Foundation hosts more than 80 free public events each year. The public is invited to get to know these poets via the CTA campaign and then come see them at Foundation events or readings throughout the year. 

The ads encourage commuters to “experience more” poetry with a unique link to the Foundation’s season events page (poetryfoundation.org/cta), educational resources (poetryfoundation.org/teachers), or a chance to subscribe to Poetry magazine (poetrymagazine.org/cta). Commuters can tag the poetry they encounter with #CTApoets on social media.

The campaign features 14 local poets and seven ChiArts high school students. Below are the poets and their bios:

Fatimah Asghar

Tina Boyer Brown (pictured in the ad with seven of her students)

CM Burroughs

Kevin Coval

Calvin Forbes

Hannah Gamble

Emily Jungmin Yoon

Parneshia Jones

Nate Marshall

Elise Paschen

Kristiana Rae Colón

Jacob Saenz

Erika L. Sánchez

Keith S. Wilson
 

Photography by Roy Gardiner and advertisement design by JNL Design.


About the Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit poetryfoundation.org.

Follow the Poetry Foundation and Poetry on Facebook at facebook.com/poetryfoundation or on Twitter @PoetryFound.

POETRY FOUNDATION | 61 West Superior Street | Chicago, IL 60654 |312.787.7070

Media contacts:
Elizabeth Burke-Dain, Marketing and Media Director, [email protected], 312.799.8016
Amy Christenson, Media Associate, [email protected], 312.209.9531