Wiersze w Metrze has been initiated by the Book Institute and the British Council. There were thirteen cultural institutes involved in it in 2008, Biuro Promocji m.st. Warszawy and many other partners.
Inspiracją dla Wierszy w Metrze Metrze has been inspired by other similar projects which have taken place in, among others,: Dublin, Paris, New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Stuttgart and Moscow, but most of all by the Poems on the Underground initiated in London in 1986, an event which has been organised regularly from then onwards.
The aim of Wiersze w Metrze is to popularise contemporary European poetry in public city spaces. There were poems extracts in the original and in Polish translation from countries like Poland, Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, Portugal and Sweden. These were displayed in the Warsaw underground from 19 May till 16 June.
The programme included author meetings with European poets, IV Spoke’n’Word Festival, slam workshops for students, ‘Haiku for Warsaw’ – a competition. All event took place in the Centre for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Cafe Kulturalna and Chłodna 25.
Wiersze w metrze Wiersze w metrze is organised as a part of the EUNIC – Warszawa Cluster and celebrations of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008.
In 2008, it was also a part of a national festival - „Pora Poezji” organised by the Book Institute and an international project ‘Creative Cities’ initiated by the British Council.
Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the President of Warsaw, was the Honorary Patron for the venture.