Belmont Poet Laureate kicks off her signature initiative ‘Project POETRY 360’

April is National Poetry Month, and the City of Belmont is gearing up for it. There will be poetry events and exhibits around the neighborhood for everyone to explore and experience. These poetry exhibits are part of ‘Project POETRY 360’, a community-wide initiative created by Belmont Poet Laureate Monica Korde.

From April 1 to April 30, people can engage with two features Korde has designed under this initiative: QR Decode Poetry and Community POETree.

QR Decode Poetry is an interactive digital exhibit of poetry in public spaces and gives the citizens an experience of fun in its discovery. Accessible via QR Codes, scattered and installed around the City of Belmont, these colorful signs encourage passers-by into scanning them on their smartphones. Each QR code is unique and reveals a poem from a curated online collection by Korde, featuring poems by local poets who have contributed. People can find joy and meaningful connection in their reading and can share their discovery on social media.

Featured poets in this project will read their work at the ‘Poetry Celebration’ organized by Korde with Belmont Parks & Rec, on April 17 at the Twin Pines Senior and Community Center patio. The event is free and open to the public.

“I want to raise the visibility of poets, of poetry and demystify the form by removing it from its usual setting. Poetry breathes and lives through its community and I also want to create alternative spaces for it to thrive and connect with all ages, particularly reaching the youth through digital mediums,” said Korde. “That is why, I came up with Project POETRY 360, which aims to cultivate the concept of having poetry all around us, inhabiting our physical & virtual spaces, equally.” As a part of Project POETRY 360, this is also the first time a digital platform for poetry is being launched by the City of Belmont.

Community POETree, is a non-virtual feature that will run concurrently. This public art installation at the Belmont Library invites all visitors to write a spring-themed verse in the form of haiku, couplet or free verse on a leaf-shaped paper and string it onto a branch representing the ‘POETree’. People can find inspiration from sample poems written and displayed by Korde. The contributed verses will be later collected by her to create a community poem.

“Like spring flowers, poetry will be blossoming soon in all corners of Belmont,” said Korde. Among other events, the poetry month celebrations will continue with a poetry reading party on April 26, honoring winners from the Belmont Poetry Contest of 2022, welcoming all to join in, hosted by the Belmont Library with the Belmont Poet Laureate.