Tartu Bus Poetry with Manchester City of Literature

The Tartu Bus Poetry project is a lovely project by Tartu City of Literature in Estonia. A series of poems from different Cities of Literature around the world is selected, translated into Estonian, and shared on bus windows in Tartu.

Manchester City of Literature reached out to me because they had seen my poem ‘Arrival’ in the anthology Mancunian Ways, and they wanted it to be the poem to represent Manchester.

It was such an honour to see my poem translated into Estonian by respected literary translator Kersti Unt.

‘Arrival’ is a Shakespearean sonnet in form. It begins as a fable about a fish who wants to be a bee, but then its volta or twist brings it into the modern day.

Ultimately, it is all about Manchester and belonging, and it is a joy to know people will have read it on their commute.