An initiative by poster company Phantom Billstickers puts poems by New Zealand and American poets on the streets as A1 posters. The first four posters were launched in Auckland 2 June by Tusiata Avia, James Milne (aka Lawrence Arabia) and Michele Leggott, who pasted the first copies of Tusiata’s poem ‘Cheek’ and James' 'The Kinds of Feelings that Happen on Summer Beaches' on a Billstickers site opposite Britomart in the CBD. Readings of both poems were improvised and there were poems from the pavement by Michele Leggott, David Eggleton, Lisa Samuels, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Kelly Malone, John Adams, Tricia Hall, Otis Mace and others.

The posters will go up in 13 New Zealand cities and in Nashville, Tennessee, where the company is also active. The poems will change monthly and the project will run for six months.
 

16 November 2009 posters in Dunedin

Samurai Song Robert Pinsky	distraction Marcie Sims	Palace of Exiles Sandra Bell	Phantasmagoria Joe Treceno
Uncooked Jay Clarkson	11 Runes (for Alf, turning 11) Sam Hunt	Keeping it Up Brian Turner

July 2009 poster poems

Phantom Billstickers' second selection of poster poems was launched at Wellington Trawling Sea Market and at the National Library of New Zealand in association with the announcement of the second NZ Poet Laureate, Cilla McQueen. Poster poems by Bill Direen, David Eggleton, Michele Leggott, Frankie McMillan, Josie McQuail and Otis Mace went national and then (Nashville, Sydney, Paris) international.  

The Scenic Route David Eggleton	Fit Tuck Ridge Otis Mace	Sea of Lonely Josie McQuail,	2009 Bill Direen
wonderful to relate Michele Leggott	Developing my father Frankie McMillan

 

 
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June-July 2009 Nafanua Goes to Nashville

Jim Wilson of Phantom Billstickers commissioned 'Nafanua goes to Nashville' from Tusiata Avia for a poster that is now gracing several cities in Tennessee. George Furman's photos catch Nafanua in Cookeville, TN.

June 2009 poster poems

Cheek Tusiata Avia	The Kinds of Feelings that Happen on Summer Beaches James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia	A Moment in the Morning Jeffery D McCaleb	there was a time Michael White