Last Thursday, 6th October, was National Poetry Day, and to coincide with it Nexus launched a poetry competition for aspiring poets of all ages with the chance for their work to be displayed on a Tyne and Wear Metro station.

In recent years, Longbenton Metro station has become a hub for poetry and artworks. Four poems by professional that reflected on the pandemic were displayed there in July 2021, then in December 2021, they were replaced by poems written by previous competition winners on the theme of Winter. Artwork by local children with the theme of making Metro journeys more fun is currently on display at the station as part of the Little Inventors project.

The competition runs until Sunday, 6th November, and the winning entry together with three runners-up will be displayed on a large poster at the busy commuter station at Longbenton, which is used by over one million customers every year.

A £100 Waterstones voucher and free membership to The Poetry Book Society is the incentive for the winner, whilst the runners-up will each receive £50 Waterstones vouchers.

Poems should be on the theme of ‘Home’. For full details of the competition and to submit entries go to www.nexus.org.uk/poetry

All entries will be judged by Nexus and a poet selected by The Poetry Book Society.

Alice Mullen, manager of the Poetry Book Society said: “The Poetry Book Society is delighted to be working with Nexus again on this competition. It gives a platform to regional talent and shares the joy of poetry with our local community.

“A single poem on a Metro platform could reach out to one commuter and make them see the world in a completely different light. Poetry can offer some sort of hope, connection or even joy and that’s more important than ever these days.”

Huw Lewis, Nexus Customer Services Director, said: “Metro has a long history of displaying art on the network. We want to continue to give more people the opportunity to have their work displayed at Longbenton.

“Placing art and poetry in public places like train stations, where people don’t expect to see it, is a great way of introducing it to the public. We’re encouraging everyone who has ever written, or thought about writing, a poem to get involved. The competition is open to all ages and all abilities and we’re looking forward to sharing your poems with our customers.”