In the Media
USA TODAY
“‘Dear vaccine’: A poem written by the world helps make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic”
Akron Beacon Journal
“Dear COVID-19 Vaccine: You’re invited to pen a stanza for Global Vaccine Poem”
Tucson.com
“Commemorate your COVID-19 vaccine in poetic fashion with University of Arizona project”
Earth Institute Sunday “Arts and Hearts” with Andy Revkin
“Dear Vaccine…”
Join the Kickoff of a Global Vaccine Poetry Project
Kent State University
“Art and Hope Intersect: Kent State and University of Arizona Launch Global Vaccine Poem Project”
University of Arizona
“Reflect on the COVID-19 Vaccine in a Poem, and Share it With the World”
AZCENTRAL.COM
“‘Dear vaccine’: A poem written by the world helps make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic”
News 5 Cleveland
‘Dear Vaccine’ — You're invited to contribute to a global poem about the COVID-19 vaccine
Ohio Arts Council
Resilient Ohio: Global Vaccine Poem Receives Responses From Around the World
Spectrum News 1
Kent State, University of Arizona partner on global poem called ‘Dear Vaccine’
Featured Media
On the Air: Dear Vaccine
About
British composer Cecilia McDowall’s choral work, On the Air (Dear Vaccine) was commissioned by the Cleveland Chamber Choir and premiered on February 26, 2022, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. For the text, McDowall worked with British poet, writer, and broadcaster Seàn Street. Together, they chose several poetic excerpts from the Global Vaccine Poem project.
McDowall’s On the Air (Dear Vaccine) is a poetic letter addressing our desires about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the universal hope for things to return to the way they were before the pandemic. It begins quietly with sustained textures providing the backdrop for a lone speaker who implores the Vaccine to make possible the return of singers to the stage. McDowall notes that when asking Street to choose texts, he “treated each line he drew on with the greatest delicacy; of course, every expression was submitted as a cherished wish in the midst of our very bleak, pre-vaccine landscape. Seàn then shaped these extracts into his own poetic form, opening with a spoken address to ‘Dear Vaccine,’ brimming with anticipation. What follows is a progression of increasingly uplifting stanzas, culminating in the lines, ‘We are the choir—unmasked, unveiled, unmuted. Breathe air, and sing!’ Of course, when we conceived the new work, we were hopeful that the pandemic would have faded into the shadows. But alas, here we are, it is still with us and though the singers are masked and veiled, thankfully they are unmuted.”
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Traveling Stanzas community arts projects bring poetry to people’s everyday lives through innovative methods and digital platforms.
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with additional support from the Offices of the President and Provost at the University of Arizona and the Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences.