Press Release: The Moving Words Project (Singapore)

Bringing Poetry to You on SMRT Trains!

Moving Words is a campaign to create an awareness of local poetry, both old and new, by presenting them in media spaces in SMRT trains and stations. Besides encouraging an appreciation of Singapore poetry among the millions of daily commuters in this city, it aims to discover new poetry, submitted and written by Singaporeans.

The genesis of this project started with Singapore poet Madeline Lee, who approached SMRT with an initiative that would showcase Singapore poetry. With Moving Words, poets will have the opportunity to show how poems can become a part of everyday life even as we move through society.

Phase 1 of Moving Words

Twelve poems written in the four official languages of Singapore (English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil) from Singapore poets will be displayed in SMRT stations and trains. These poems will be displayed from May 21 to July 15, 2011.

Phase 2 of Moving Words

We invite all aspiring poets, young and old, to participate in an open Moving Words Poetry Competition. This is a great opportunity for budding poets to showcase their poems, in any of the four languages, on a national platform – the SMRT train network!

This competition is open to all Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The competition period is May 21 to July 15, 2011. The 12 best entries will be shortlisted by a panel of judges for display on the SMRT train network from August to October 2011. The public will then get to vote for their favorite entry and the public’s votes will decide the winning poem. The winner receives a brand new iPad2 and there will be two consolation prizes of Books Actually vouchers worth $200. Voters also stand a chance to win attractive prizes like the iPod Touch and Books Actually vouchers. Details about the competition can be found here.

The 12 best entries will also be published in the Moving Words Anthology together with the works of established Singapore poets, and launched in October at the Singapore Writers Festival 2011, Singapore’s largest literary event.

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