Piccadilly Circus hoardings taken over for National Poetry Day

A competition organised by IdeasTap and Forward Arts Foundation, which runs National Poetry Day, called for submissions from designers, filmmakers and digital artists between 18-30 years old to create a piece of work inspired by the Charles Causley poem I Am the Song.

Nine winners were chosen, and a montage of the entries is being shown every hour, on the hour, between 9am and 6pm today.

Entrants were briefed to submit a creative response to the poem, which could focus on just one line or on the poem in its entirety; in the form of a 30-second silent animation or video film-bite or one to five still images. 

‘Poetry is all around us, including in advertising. The Piccadilly Lights are the most famous and eye-catching advertising site in Britain,’ says National Poetry Day founder William Sieghart.

‘It’s refreshing that among the advertising messages of the Piccadilly Lights passers-by will find Charles Causley’s reminder of the power of human expression, a commodity that money can’t buy.’

The full list of artists is as follows:

•    Alex Horsfall

•    Lucy Fry

•    Camilla Greenwell

•    Carley Jane Edge

•    Ben Oren

•    Paul Carpenter

•    Samuel Barker

•    Leila Hussain

•  Geraldine Peclard

The designs are on show from 9am – 6pm on 4 October atPiccadilly Circus, London W1J