Engaging with Poetry on the Wall: Inviting, Seizing, Intensifying, and Transforming Literary Engagements

This article adds to the discussion of arts-based approaches to teaching poetry by exploring an example of Poetry on the Wall and its potential for poetry education. Poetry on the Wall intertwines literary and visual elements by materializing and visualizing poetry in a physical environment. The study centers on the poem Reading List created and painted as a wall mural by the artist-poet Vidha Saumya. In relation to Reading List, the produced data encompasses a dialogue between artists, researchers, and educators, as well as the researchers’ and educators’ embodied engagement with the poem. Theoretically guided by a performative approach, this analysis suggests that the potential of Poetry on the Wall includes inviting, seizing, intensifying, and transforming literary engagements. Poetry on the Wall sets in motion a rethinking of poetry and where it can be found and created, contributing to the movement exploring alternative ways to reinvigorate poetry in education.