Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ) is a Dunedin based arts in health charity which prints and distributes free poetry cards (currently 5700) every season to medical waiting rooms, rest homes, hospices and prisons throughout the South Island and parts of the lower North Island. Our long-term goal is to offer the cards throughout New Zealand. Our aim with the cards is to make people’s waiting time a little less frustrating/more enjoyable and at the same time introduce or reintroduce them to the delights of poetry.
The poetry cards, A4 sized three-fold cards, feature between eight and ten poems. New editions of the cards are printed and distributed every season. Poems include those from contemporary poets (especially New Zealand writers), older poems, a haiku, and a children’s poem. The poems are selected for readers’ enjoyment and are in no way a vehicle for delivering any social/health messages. The cards may be read and left on site or taken away for sharing or further reading.
We currently send new cards, every quarter, to 211 rest homes, 333 medical practices, 7 prisons, 3 hospices, contributing poets, and interested individuals.
Further information about Poems in the Waiting Room can be found on our blog.
PitWR(NZ) relies solely on donations and successful applications to trusts/companies to fund its two costs – postage and printing.
For all enquiries please contact:
Ruth Arnison
Poems in the Waiting Room
19 Hunt St
Andersons Bay
Dunedin 9013
waitingroompoems(at)gmail(dot)com. Please replace the (at) with @ and (dot) with .
Bellamys at Five 