Lawrence Transit continues poetry partnership with Summer Ride and Write Workshop

Join Lawrence Transit, poet and professor Megan Kaminski, and Lawrence Public Library in our kickoff for the third annual Poet Laureate program, a Summer Ride and Write workshop. Registration is limited to 25 attendees. Register here.

• Tuesday, July 29 • 5:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. 
• Meet in the Central Station lobby at 5:15 p.m. We will ride Route 8 to Cedar and Sage coffee shop, located in Stidham Union on the campus of Haskell Indian Nations University.

We will write together and have opportunities to share our words. Participants will leave with a poem and prompts to inspire ongoing writing, as well as an invitation to submit poems for the Lawrence Transit Poet Laureate program.

This year’s program invites poets to explore how we create and discover belonging through the pathways we travel—both literal and metaphorical. Whether it’s the bus route that carries us to work each morning, the walking path that leads us to a friend’s door, or the emotional journey that brings us closer to community, we all navigate routes that shape our sense of place and connection.

We encourage poems that celebrate the intersections where lives meet, the stops along the way that become gathering places, and the quiet moments of recognition when we realize we’re exactly where we need to be. How do the places we pass through daily become part of who we are? What does it mean to be welcomed, to welcome others, or to welcome ourselves home?

Every journey maps the heart of community—not just where we’re going, but how we travel together, who we meet along the way, and the small acts of recognition that transform strangers into neighbors, destinations into home.

Call for Poems
We invite submissions that explore:

• The familiar faces we encounter on our daily routes
• Moments of unexpected connection during travel
• Places along our paths that hold meaning and memory
• The ways transportation brings diverse communities together
• Stories of arrival, departure, and the spaces in between
• How movement through our city creates belonging

All ages welcome. Poems may be submitted in English or any language spoken in our community, with English translation if desired.

Submit your poems here: https://forms.gle/q7XAnqQPqWnM267m7

“When we invite poetry onto our buses and into our daily commutes, we’re creating space for reflection and connection in a world that often rushes past the profound in the everyday,” said Megan Kaminski, Poet and Environmental Studies Professor, University of Kansas. “This program reminds us that our shared routes through the city are also shared stories—and that poetry helps us see our community with fresh eyes, recognizing the beauty and meaning in the simple act of traveling together toward home.”

For more information, visit www.lawrencetransit.org or call (785) 864-4644. Find Lawrence Transit on Facebook: @LawrenceTransit.

Contact: Lawrence Transit, info@lawrencetransit.org, (785) 864-4644