Why NOW picked itSuits anyone who wants a few poems rather than a whole book. Easy to drop by on your way through the subway.
At noon on Sunday, Nov. 1, one car of Seoul Subway Line 2 turns into a poetry stage. Starting at City Hall, a poet steps on at station after station and reads their own work while the train rolls on.
A poet at every stop
"Reading Poems on the Seoul Subway" is a participatory poetry festival for Poetry Day, run by Literature House Seoul. You board Line 2 at City Hall Station at 11:50 a.m., and poets and citizen poets join at seven stops: Sangwangsimni, Gangbyeon, Yeoksam, Seoul Nat'l Univ., Mullae and Sinchon.
Line 2 is a loop, so the ride ends where it began. It covers 50 stations, 51.4 km and 87 minutes.
Who is reading
The announced poets are Choi Dong-ho, Kwak Hyo-hwan, Na Tae-joo, Moon Tae-jun, Shin Dal-ja, An Hee-yeon, Do Jong-hwan, Park Joon, Hwang In-chan, Jang Seok-nam and Ko Seon-gyeong. At Sangwangsimni, Prof. Kim Jong-hun gives a four-minute talk on poet Kim Sowol and Wangsimni.
Actors and musicians ride along, and citizen poets read between stops. The line-up and boarding stations may change.
A finale back at City Hall
When the train returns, the finale concert "I Love Poetry" runs 1:40–2:10 p.m. on the Seoul Gallery stage at City Hall Station.
The event is listed as running noon to 2 p.m.
Or send in your own poem
The organisers are collecting short poems on the theme "Seoul Subway" — an acrostic or anything up to ten lines. Email imhs1026@naver.com by Oct. 23.
Winners are invited to the event and get signed poetry books. AI-generated, plagiarised or previously published work is excluded.
Before you go
Meet at City Hall Station on Line 2. The official page links a reservation page on the Seoul Culture Portal; questions go to Literature House Seoul at 02-778-1026~7.
The listing does not spell out how to take part or what it costs, so confirm with the organisers first.
