Welcome to an exploration of poetry in non-traditional spaces.

This approach is meant to be an alternative access and delivery vehicle for poetry and graphic art, one that allows the public to experience the arts in normal or 'mundane' surroundings. The project originated in the fall of 2005, with poems appearing in DC metro public bathrooms and port-a-potties. In the spring of 2008, the project was embraced by Takoma Park in suburban DC as a Public Arts project, highlighting the work of Takoma and surrounding area poets (see below for PODCASTS of selected poems).

I began the project as a re-introduction to poetry after unremarkable childhood experiences with verse. I was re-introduced through the works of Virginia Hamilton Adair's  Ants on the Melon. At the time of this re-introduction, my children were small and were given almost all of my attention. This left little or no time and space for verse, so in looking for quiet time to read, I turned to the bathroom where I could find 5 minutes of peace and privacy on a regular basis. 

This led to the inevitable stack of books on the toilet tank which became an issue when one somehow wound up in the bowl. For the safety and integrity of the works, I made space on the toiletries shelf for a small poetry library. Early readings included that of Adair, Milosz, J. Graham, D. Thomas, Borges, Wright (Haiku), E. Bishop, and Mary Oliver. Volumes rotated, depending on how my tastes changed. As my library expanded, additional shelves were created in the basement, but a few titles were always available in the bathroom. Eventually I became a poetry writer (on the way to becoming a poet), where workshops, tutoring, online classes and readings became routine. For the afore-mentioned children, poetry became part of the everyday household experience, an unanticipated bonus of their exposure to books in the bathroom. But this, combined with their alternative education in Waldorf schools, became far more valuable than I could have imagined (Velhalla - I'll take a small piece of this).

Because there are probably others like me who can't find more than 5 minutes at a time to read verse, I established The Bathroom Poetry Project where all of the selected poems are short enough to be read during a single visit to the toilet. In 2007, the project expanded, taking on poets and bathrooms in other cities across the US -  Boulder Colorado has joined us, Raleigh, Austin, and Chicago are in progress. I am looking to expand internationally, an need coordinators outside the US to take up the charge for BATHROOM POETRY !

As to the WHY of it all - early beginnings were out of necessity (above), but now I could say to a colleague, in a press release, or to my family that there are two goals associated with The Bathroom Poetry Project:

      to increase accessibility to poetry in non-traditional spaces
     to provide an alternative publication venue for willing poets (the bathroom)

Please link to the Poems and Installations section at left in order to find project installations. Some poems were left in their locations unannounced, therefore they may be removed at the discretion of the business owner or patrons at any time. Unattributed works in the site are mine.

If you've enjoyed visiting the installation, please give the business owner positive feedback, and feel free to notify me if a poem has been removed using the Contact link. Changes and updates will be posted here regularly.

Enjoy

r.coll.
(regina.coll.)

p.s. PODCASTS have been added to selected TAKOMA poems as links - these readings took place on June29th at the Takoma Progressive Bathroom Poetry Walk. Poems were read and recorded in the bathrooms !!!! Please listen to poems  8,  10,  30,  45,  57