12 poets to read their works inside a Line 2 train on Sunday

Event departs City Hall Station at noon, runs about 90 minutes

[Provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government]
[Provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced it will mark Poetry Day on Sunday with a citizen-participation poetry festival aboard Seoul subway Line 2, titled "Poetry-Reading Seoul Subway — Circulation, Empathy, Life and People." Poetry Day falls on Nov. 1 every year.

Twelve poets — including Shin Dal-ja, Na Tae-ju, Do Jong-hwan and Park Jun — will board a Line 2 train to recite their own works and share the stories behind them with passengers.

The event will take place in the first car of an inner-loop Line 2 train (toward Euljiro Ipgu) departing City Hall Station at noon. No advance registration is required — anyone is welcome to join.

At Sangwangsimni Station, Na Tae-ju will recite "Meolliseo Binda" ("Praying from Afar"), while literary critic Kim Jong-hun will give a short lecture on poet Kim So-wol and the Wangsimni area. At Gangbyeon Station, poet Moon Tae-jun and public-contest winners Lee Yeong-jin and Ko Yong-seok will read their works.

At Yeoksam Station, Shin Dal-ja will recite "Heonhwaga"; at Seoul National University Station, Do Jong-hwan and Ahn Hee-yeon will read their own poems. At Mullae Station, Park Jun and Hwang In-chan will perform, and at Sinchon Station, Jang Seok-nam and Ko Seon-gyeong will take the stage — filling each stretch of the route with a different poetic world.

The event runs for about 90 minutes as the train passes through 43 stations covering roughly 48.8 kilometers before returning to City Hall Station. No advance registration is needed. The event will also be livestreamed on the "Live Seoul" YouTube channel.

A mini poetry concert titled "I Love Poetry" will be held at Seoul Gallery, located in the below-ground floors of Seoul City Hall. Stage actor Park Jeong-ja will read Yun Dong-ju's poem "Easily Written Poem," while crossover tenor Park Wan and soprano Kim Seong-hye will perform a program blending poetry and music. That event will also be livestreamed on the Live Seoul YouTube channel.

Announcements of the event train's arrival time will be made at each platform stop, and passengers who do not wish to participate will be directed to other cars.

Min Su-hong, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Culture, said the city has shared a poem a day with residents through subway screen doors since 2008, and that this event offers "a special occasion to ride the subway with poets, circle Seoul, and hear and share poetry in person."


ken@heraldcorp.com