Poems on the Underground was launched in 1986. The programme was the brainchild of American writer Judith Chernaik, whose aim was to bring poetry to the wide ranging audience of passengers on the London Underground. New sets of poems generally appear three times each year and are displayed in advertising spaces within the trains.Contemporary and historical poems are included as the programme aims to give a wide variety of choice and style. Works from established and emerging poets from around the world are used.
In 2006, to celebrate 20 years of Poems on the Underground, six Chinese poems spanning 2000 years of Chinese civilisation were displayed on trains in London. Among them were 'Blue, Blue is the Grass' from 19 Old Poems of the Han (1st century AD) and 'New Year' 1933 by Lu Xun (1881-1936).
Poems on the Underground has been the inspiration for similar programmes around the world including Shanghai.
