2017 Poetry Program submissions now available

 Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced an open call for poetry submissions to be exhibited on the walls of Boston City Hall beginning in late April.  Once a year, the Boston Poet Laureate selects 30 poems submitted by Boston's literary community through this open call. The deadline to apply is March 20, 2017.

"Every year, we look forward to welcoming new poetry, written by our talented writers, to the walls of City Hall," said Mayor Walsh. "The pieces show great insight into a city that prides itself on diversity, hard work and education, and the poets are a prime example of the talent and energy that exist today in our neighborhoods."

Boston is known for its rich literary history and is also home to many talented contemporary writers whose work is enjoyed locally, nationally and internationally. In honor of the city's diverse and creative community, the chosen poems are printed and publicly displayed on the walls of Boston City Hall for 12 months. The goal of the Mayor's Poetry Program is to honor the great literary tradition that is vibrant in our city.

"We are pleased to release our annual call for poetry as part of the Mayor's Poetry Program," said Julie Burros, Chief of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston. "This is a wonderful opportunity afforded to poets around Boston each year and I look forward to reading the work of the talented poets selected."

"This year, we welcome poems on the themes of the City of Boston itself, our various neighborhoods, and, in particular, poems that explore the design and architecture of Boston City Hall and City Hall Plaza. Our program coincides with a series of new works, performances and events called Heroic Encounters: Artists Respond to City Hall," said Danielle Legros Georges, Boston Poet Laureate. "We're excited about the conversations these poems will spark."

Please click here for the application form. The deadline for submissions is March 20, 2017. The exhibition will begin in late April and is free and open to the public.

The City of Boston's Poet Laureate is tasked with raising the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Bostonians, acting as an advocate for poetry, language and the arts, and creating a unique artistic legacy through public readings and civic events.

Danielle Legros Georges is a professor in the Creative Arts and Learning Division of Lesley University. Her areas of academic interest include arts and education, contemporary American poetry, African-American poetry, Caribbean literature and studies, and literary translation. A writer and poet, Legros Georges has been widely recognized for her work, with recent literary awards including a 2015 Brother Thomas Fellowship, a 2014 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Poetry, a 2013 Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship/Andrew W. Mellon Grant, and a 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist in Poetry Grant. Legros Georges was born in Haiti and grew up in Boston's Haitian community of Mattapan. She received a BA from Emerson College in Boston and an MFA in poetry from New York University.

She is the author of two poetry collections: The Dear Remote Nearness of You (Barrow Street Press, 2016), winner of the New England Poetry Club's 2016 Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize, and Maroon (Curbstone Books, 2001).

The Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture's mission is to support artists, the cultural sector, and to promote access to the arts for all. The office houses the Boston Cultural Council, the Boston Art Commission, and the Poet Laureate program. Responsibilities include implementing the City's cultural plan, Boston Creates; managing the Boston Artist-in-Residence program; curating exhibitions in City Hall; and operating the historic Strand Theater in Dorchester.

For more information go to: www.boston.gov/departments/arts-and-culture.