Poems in the City – 27.000 Poems in Warsaw, among them ‘Europe’ by Thomas Boberg

27 thousand poems appear in Warsaw on 1st of April, where poetry blooms in urban spaces, cafes, clubs and independent bookshops. This is the first edition of “Poems in the City”, that emerged from the well-known “Poems in the Metro”.

Poems surround Warsaw people every day and everywhere, appearing in 27.ooo places – posters, public transport stops, Warsaw city center etc. Over 100 cafes serve several thousand cups of coffee “dressed” in poetry. The poems hang also in clubs and are hidden on bookmarks in selected books from intimate bookshops and local libraries.

The poems are written by 17 European poets, some of them especially for this occasion.

The project’s leitmotif is Europe with all its cultural richness, but also its contemporary problems. Europe as a community of universal values, cradle of culture and space for exchange of thoughts. The poems represent diversity of traditions, cultures and views, as well as being a testimony of the changes taking place in front of our eyes.

Danish poet Thomas Boberg takes part in “Poems in the City” with his poem Europe, translated into Polish by Bogusława Sochańska.

Thomas Boberg, Danish poet and prose writer, was born in 1960. He made his debut aged 24 and broke through with his travel reportage Sølvtråden. In recognition of his high class creativity Danish Arts Foundation gave Thomas Boberg a life-long creative scholarship in 2001. He has also been nominated twice for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize, in 1999 for Americas and in 2006 for Livsstil (Life Style). In 2012 he received the prestigious Grand Prize of the Danish Academy.