Northampton poet perks up commuters' days with displays of his work

Life-affirming lines of poetry are cropping up on tube station boardings around the capital thanks to the work of a Northampton scribe.
James McInerney's poems have been cropping up on tube station information boards across the capital.James McInerney's poems have been cropping up on tube station information boards across the capital.
James McInerney's poems have been cropping up on tube station information boards across the capital.

Abington dad-of-two James McInerney, 40, has been writing verses since 1998 and is currently working on his sixth published collection.

But the poet's works are now starting to be seen by an even wider audience after the managers of some of London's busiest tube stations agreed to start displaying some of his shorter verses on their information boards.

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"I had this idea of seeing what places I could get poetry into where there isn't usually poetry," James said.

"When I went to visit London I saw these information boards - and some of them had quotes on.

"With them being written in pen, I thought I would just contact a few station managers and see what they felt about the poetry.

"All the major stations said yes."

James's poetry talks of 'love and life' and aims to inspire a bit of positivity among London's commuters.

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And those travelling to Paddington, Piccadilly Circus or Covent Garden to name a few may have already come across some of his works on the information boards there.

Recently, digital boards at the London Bridge overground station have also begun flashing up selected lines from James' collection.

"The feedback has been really good," added James, who also teaches part-time at a school and has two teenage children.

"It's something a bit different, it's something you don't normally see at train stations.

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"People who wouldn't normally like poetry are getting to read it."

James, who will be signing books at this year's Comic-Con in London, has also seen his social media following rocket since the poems started being displayed.

He now has 33,000 followers on Instagram, and recently star of television series The Purge, Hannah Emily Anderson, made a short video reading out one of James' poems: 'When it comes to love, you shouldn’t have to question if you are enough’.

For more information about James and his poetry, head to his Instagram page here.