A public art installation centered around science, poetry, and racial social justice.
The Poetry of Science aims to increase the representation of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian & Pacific Islander, and People of Color’s experiences in the fields of poetry, photography, and the sciences.
The Project
Scientists and poets of color collaborated to create poetry based on the work, motivations, and history of the scientists. Fine art photographer Vanessa Leroy, created portraits of each scientist for public display alongside their associated poetry.
Selected poets and scientists published their work a dedicated issue of an award-winning literary journal, Spry.
Selected Poets
Jean-Dany Joachim, Cambridge Poet Populist from 2009 to 2011, selected seven poets, each of whom has a connection to the City of Cambridge. We are proud to feature emerging talent and notable poets, each with their own style and voice. We believe our selected poets will find a deep-running connection among the stories of their scientist collaborators. Poets also read at the Boston Book Festival Lit Crawl on June 10.
Our Mission
The Poetry of Science counters the negative associations handed down by systemic racism by creating new and positive associations between people of color (POC), the arts, the sciences, how nature is perceived, and what it means to generate knowledge. In this context, POC offer new ways to understand and create novel realities to resist systems of oppression.
Cambridge Arts Council Report
Read the Cambridge Arts Council Final Report