Arts & Entertainment

Poet Cycling with Typewriter Due in Collinsville Sunday

40-day journey to collect 'growing poem' includes local stop.

Poets and cyclists are fairly common sights in Collinsville. But a poet on a bicycle with typewriter in tow? That may garner a little attention.

Poet and cyclist Maya Stein is scheduled to do just that Sunday, May 6, as part of a trip from Amherst, MA, to Milwaukee, WI.

The trip will start the day before on Stein’s 40th birthday and involve several scheduled stops where she will set up a mobile typing booth. At the booth, people can add to a “growing poem.”

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“I’m generally someone who believes in the goodness of people and the fact that people have wonderful stories to share,” Stein said.

Stein said the communities in which she chose to stop were selected largely based on her route and the distance from each other, but also on instinct. She did have a local backer from Canton on the kickstarter page for the project, but she has never been here. Stein, however, said that’s part of the beauty of the trip.

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“It’s a chance to discover parts of the country and connect with communities,” she said.

While it’s hard to predict exactly, Stein, who will have a support vehicle for much of the ride, said she should be in town early afternoon, likely in the vicinity of the Cherry Brook Garden Club’s plant sale in the Town Hall parking lot.

For more information on Stein’s trip and the philosophy behind it, log on to http://www.type-rider.com/ or the kickstarter page for the project.

People can also follow the sites for progress on the trip and eventually information on the book she plans to release at the end of the journey.


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