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Poets in Transit

A common practice of the senior honors creative writing classes taught by Michael McFee at UNC is to produce some sort of anthology of the semester's work. In the past, classes have published small booklets to give to one another; other classes have expanded on that idea and gone on to print extra copies to sell. The class of 1999 has decided to try a more public method of publication -- we are putting our poems on the buses of Chapel Hill Transit in slots normally filled by advertisements. A number of large city transit systems do similar things using more well-known poems.

The idea to do this appeals to us in large part because it is not the normal means of publication. Moreover, our poems will be seen by more people than if we put a small anthology for sale on a dusty bookshelf. If passengers on the buses neither like nor particularly dislike our poems, they will at least have read them, and that seems a step up from the norm. Additionally, we are interacting very directly with the community surrounding the university rather than remaining poetically in our isolated garrets.

We arrived at the title of our series by considering quite literally the medium of publication -- our poems are in fact in public transit. The title is further appropriate, however, as we are seniors making the transition from the fairy world of academia to the real world or to further academia; and as our poems are changing and growing along with us.

The poems posted on the buses of Chapel Hill Transit follow in random order. You may view other poems by the individual poets by following the links to their tables of contents. Note also that the University News Services organization has sent out a news release about the project.


The Poem The Poet
 
To Be Excused Matt Ezzell
 
Star-crossed Mandy Holt
 
Laundry Nina Riggs
 
Forgetting Daryl L. Houston
 
Jumper Cables Ali Fischer
 
First Infatuation Holly Phillips
 
Stand Tatiana Margitic
 
Birmingham, 1963 Luke Meisner


Maintained by Daryl L. Houston