RUTLAND, VT–In celebration of National Poetry Month 2021, The Paper Poet in collaboration with Phoenix Books Rutland and Downtown Rutland Partnership created a pop-up poetry path featuring 70+ poems in the window fronts of 17 downtown Rutland businesses, contributed by over 30 poets. James Morehead, author of “canvas” (Viewless Wings Press, now available for pre-order) contributed three poems from “canvas” that are now on display as part of the event.
Poems are on display through the first week of May in a path marked by green signs throughout downtown Rutland. The event was modeled after David Mook’s Poultney Poetry Walk. Poetry walks take different forms, in 2015 The High Line Poetry Walk (New York City) featured ten blocks of traditional readings, spoken word, and ASL Poetry (presented in collaboration with the Academy of American Poets). For towns and cities, small and large, poetry walks are a wonderful way to bring communities together through the universal language of poetry.
Event organizer Bianca Zanella, aka The Paper Poet, offers healing poetic experiences to anyone experiencing suffering and continues to perform around the United States, now virtually with COVID-19.
“canvas” is available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble (and is available for retailers via Ingram Content Group). “canvas” features poetry by James Morehead, as well as original art by Kari Byron and Alla Tsank.
“James Morehead’s canvas opens itself to the poetry of everyday life, where stanzas are etched in sand, and poems end in sunset. Combining micro-narratives of Boston bullies cornering a young boy, with minute descriptions of time in quarantine, it draws us into moving tableaus of tenacious attention to what went down, what might come up, and where we might find ourselves. These are poems to be savored, re-read, kept handy for those times when only poetry will do.”
W. J. T. MITCHELL, Senior Editor of Critical Inquiry and Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, English and Art History, University of Chicago
View the full list of participating poets here.
Photo credit: Bianca Zanella (Poetry copyright James Morehead) 
Photo credit: Bianca Zanella (Poetry copyright James Morehead) 
Poetry Downtown Rutland 2021 (photo credit: Bianca Zanella)
