Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Beauty in Words
Conshohocken Free Library offers pop-up displays for National Poetry Month
CONSHOHOCKEN >> April is National Poetry Month, and Conshohocken Free Library is marking the observance with popup poetry stations at 10 spots throughout the borough. CFL staffer Harry Hoy organized the event and came up with the idea as a way “to bring poetry to the local community and encourage the public to engage with their surroundings in a new and thoughtful way.”
“National Poetry Month is…a celebration of all things poetry during April,” Hoy says. “This year marks the 25th anniversary (of the event, created by the Academy of American Poets). The Conshohocken Free Library hopes to celebrate this special anniversary with the Conshohocken community and beyond with our Pop-up Poetry displays.”
Getting involved couldn’t be easier. Simply take a walk. Conshohocken is only one square mile large, so chances are pretty good you’ll come across at least one or two of the postings during most outings. When you do, take a minute to read the verse, and go on your way. Or…record yourself reading a poem aloud and share it on Facebook or Instagram at #ConshyPoetryMonth. At the end of the month, CFL plans to release a video featuring those recordings as a “culmination of the celebration.”
Alternatively, amateur poetry fans are encouraged to compose and recite their own original work at any “meaningful” borough spot for inclusion in CFL’s Local Voices Project.
“First, choose a local spot that’s meaningful to you,” Hoy explains. “Then, write a poem about it. When you’re finished, use (the Google form posted at CFL’s website) to submit it. It will be added
to the interactive Pop-up Poetry Map along with the poetic offerings of strangers and neighbors alike.”
Hoy’s interest in poetry began during his years at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School. At Boston College, he served as editor of “The Stylus,” one of the oldest literary magazines in the country. Earlier this year, he established CFL’s virtual poetry workshops. The group meets via Zoom the first Thursday of each month.
“I knew I wanted to do something special for National Poetry Month, and I’m personally very interested in the intersection of public space and the arts,” Hoy says.
Brian Coll, president of CFL’s board of trustees, feels the same way and says he and fellow board members “are proud of the effort by Harry and Sydney (Mason, CFL manager) to promote the arts throughout Conshohocken.”
“The poems remind me of the displays the Philadelphia Museum of Art placed throughout Conshohocken a few years ago,” continues Coll, whose family operates Coll’s Custom Framing in the borough.
He points to a number of outdoor installations created by local artists during the ongoing pandemic.
“There’s the butterfly mural at Scoops created by Anna Gibbard, the paintings on the library steps painted by Liliana Gravagno, the tile mosaic at Guppy’s, created out of love and unity by local volunteers to accompany some amazing heart-type murals by Perry Milou, and on Spring Mill Avenue, the owners of a dog grooming business named Scrub a Pup Pup hired the talented Kim Tatum Robbins to create a mural of their four dogs on an exterior wall. There’ve also been a number of ‘Bill Murray’ paintings popping up around town.
“More outdoor art is coming…another tile mosaic at Guppy’s and more paintings on the steps at the library. A unique painting at Conshohocken VFW is in the works, and a large tile mosaic is coming to Got Your Back on Hector Street. So many people have been indoors for months, and all of this – the poems and the art – may help them take their minds off the lockdown.” Exactly, Hoy says. “Given COVID-19’s social (distancing protocols), celebrating National Poetry Month this way seemed like a nice way for people to get outside,” he reasons. “April is the first full month of spring, and after a long winter of isolation, the library views this celebration as a meaningful way to safely spend time outdoors and reconnect with the place we call home.
“When I began choosing the spaces to place the poems, I tried to pick somewhat iconic locations around the borough…locations that would not only have a thematic connection to the poem but also have personal meaning for people.
“Having the poems pop up at those locations might also be a way for people to re-imagine them, because reading a poem is a way to engage with another point of view or perspective…to reflect and, maybe, reconnect. I think it’s always sort of a delightful surprise when you connect with an image or visual of some kind and have ‘a moment’ – a kind of magical moment when something that you’re familiar with gets flipped on its head so that you’re able to see it in a different way.”
The sentiments expressed in CFL’s Pop-up poems range from Emily Dickinson’s nod to the human spirit in “Hope is a thing with Feathers” (at Mary H. Wood Park) to Alberto Rios’ tongue-incheek “Don’t Go Into the Library” (at CFL).
Look for others at the following locations: Fayette Street at 11th Avenue; A.A. Garthwaite Stadium (the A Field); Fellowship House community center; Conshohocken Dog Park; ‘feine coffee shop; Schuylkill River Trail; Sutcliffe Park and Veterans’ Memorial Park.
For additional details about the Pop-up Poetry displays or CFL’s virtual poetry workshops, email Hoy at hhoy@mclinc.org. More information is also available at www.mc-npl. org and 610-825-1656.