Poetry on the Pavement Kickoff

Join us 3:00 Friday afternoon 01 October 2021, at Willard Model Elementary School in Norfolk as we kick off Norfolk Arts' Poetry on the Pavement Project.

A poem by former Willard Elementary School student, Shaaron Hernandez Chamul Casey, painted onto the pavement in front of the school, will be the first to be unveiled.

Norfolk Arts will continue the project throughout the month painting 25 selected short poems by poets who live, work or attend school in Norfolk, VA, numerous times in various locations throughout the city.

I had the wonderful opportunity of leading the selection committee in my capacity as Poet Laureate of Virginia.

In this time of isolation and anxiety, we’re seeing a renewed attention to the power of language to connect and support us. I’m so pleased to be part of the Poetry on the Pavement project through Norfolk Arts – where we invited Norfolk residents of all ages to give voice in poetry to what it’s like to live in this particular place and in this particular time.