Poets Way is a pathway of interlocking bricks and undulated sandstone pavers (24" x 24") which leads into the Boulder, Colorado Public Library. Funded by the Boulder Arts Commission (Arts in Education Grant Support and Major Grant Support, a combined total of $4,000.00) and with the support of the Boulder Public Library and the Boulder Public Library Foundation, Poets Way began as a dream. In the first phase of this public art project, excerpts from the work of approximately 50 poets from around the globe will be laid along a 600-foot pathway. There will be ten stones left blank for future poets. The project documentation will be the actual sandstone pavers along Poets Way, and it will be a permanent element in the Boulder Public Library's architecture and landscaping. The stones and the words chosen will become one with its environment, imbued with the spirit of the stone, not copying nature but understanding the dynamics of nature. The intitial pavers are inscribed with the words of Wawatay Eninew, Rabindranath Tagore, Anna Akhmatova, and Thomas Hornsby Ferril.

It is the hope of the Boulder Public Library Foundation and Poets Way that the project will take at least ten years to complete. If we 'unveil' two or four poets each year -- National Poetry Month is an idea we are exploring -- it will take ten years and more to complete. We hope to involve the citizens of the City of Boulder during the upcoming selection process. Accompanying Poets Way is a Teacher's Guide, made available to the Boulder Valley School District, and tear-sheets for the patrons of the Boulder Public Library replete with a brief history of Poets Way, biographical information on the poets, recommended reading lists, a selected bibliography, “Poets From Around the Globe,” and questions for discussion, e.g., “Do your poems have sounds?,” “Can you write a poem with the names Guiseppina Bozzacchi and Swanilda in it?,” and “Do poets leave 'footprints' as their voices?”

The pathway of poets is outside, so there is no time frame. During the evening hours there are standards that are lit along the path, and the entryway to the Boulder Public Library stays alight throughout the night.

Michael Evans-Smith
Poets Way
3531 Bryant Street
Denver, CO 80211-2852