The Poetry Movement

05/29/2026

05/28/2026

Join us tomorrow night at the transit center to celebrate the installation of poems on Racine’s public transit fleet! Doors open for the Bus Poems 2026 Release Party & Open Mic at 5:30pm. All are welcome!

05/06/2026

Join us to celebrate the installation of this year’s Bus Poems and the publication of the anthology of all submissions to our 2026 contest on Friday, May 29 @ the Corinne Reid Owens Transit Center, 1374 Liberty Street, Racine, WI 53403. Doors open at 5:30, and the open mic starts promptly at 6pm.

RSVP: https://facebook.com/events/s/bus-poems-2026-release-party-o/1287283346547245/

Thanks to ArtRoot, Racine Arts Council, RYDE Racine, and the Osborne-Scekic Family Foundation for making this project possible.

04/17/2026

The Poetry Movement proudly announces the final 34 poems selected to appear on RYDE Racine Racine city buses for 2026. Please find the list of winning poems on our website: thepoetrymovement.org/bus-poems.

Many thanks to all 77 poets who submitted, and congratulations to those whose work was selected! Judges Dr. Thomas Carr, Nico Moore, and Mary Skillings undertook serious effort to narrow the field of 176 poems submitted to a final group of 34, with each poem appearing on its own bus.

All poems submitted will appear in the anthology slated for release on May 29, 2026 at our release party: https://www.facebook.com/events/1287283346547245. Please RSVP so we can hold a slot for you to perform!

Thanks as always to our fiscal receiver Racine Arts Council, the Osborne & Scekic Family Foundation, and ArtRoot.

03/11/2026

Can you believe 50 individuals have submitted 26-word pieces for the 2026 Bus Poems contest to date? That’s more than double last year’s entrants! Kenosha/Racine Poets Laureate Mary Skillings, Nico Moore and Dr. Thomas Carr will have tough choices to make in judging this year.

For a chance to see your poetry on the RYDE Racine public transit fleet, visit thepoetrymovement.org to fill out the entry form before 11:59pm this Sunday, March 15.

Thanks also to ArtRoot, the Racine Arts Council, the Osborne-Scekic Family Foundation, and the City of Racine, Wisconsin Government transportation department for helping make this possible!

07/21/2025

Join us this Friday, July 25th from 6-8pm to celebrate the kick off of the 2026 Bus Poems contest, as well as the release of the "Shoulders Gathered by Water" anthology!

Send a message to learn more