Launched in 1986 with support from the
Stefan Zweig programme of the
British Library, the
Poems on the Underground programme was the idea of three writers, Judith Chernaik,
Gerard Benson, and Cicely Herbert, whose aim was to bring poetry to a wider audience. Judith Chernaik, Cicely Herbert,
Imtiaz Dharker, and
George Szirtes now select poems for inclusion in the programme. London Underground provides space on its fleet of trains, and they and POTU's partners also display the poems on their websites during the duration of the print display. The posters are designed by Tom Davidson. The first book containing all the featured poems was not published until much later, having been initially rejected by
Faber as unlikely to prove commercially viable. In the end, towards the end of the decade, a young Publisher's Representative (salesman) persuaded his employers –
Cassell Publishing – to publish the tome when, having failed in his attempt to buy the as-yet non-existent publication as a birthday present for his mother, he felt sufficiently confident of making it a bestseller. He was set a target by the publishing house of selling 5,000 copies by the Christmas following publication, or risk losing his job. But the book – which is still very much in print 27 years later and must rank as one of the best-selling poetry books of all time – immediately sold out and went straight to reprint prior to publication. Partners for Poems on the Underground include
London Underground, which supports the programme, and the
Arts Council of England, the
British Council,
London Arts and the
Poetry Society. ==The programme==