Poets in Unexpected Places
In 2010, Samantha founded Poets in Unexpected Places along with poets Jon Sands and Adam Falkner. The trio wanted to see what would happen if they brought electrifying poetry, unsolicited, into the lives of everyday people who do not actively engage with the art form. The group began gathering poets to stage monthly pop ups on the Q train, and were greeted with visible appreciation from their fellow commuters. Subsequently, poets Syreeta McFadden and Elana Bell joined the curatorial team to expand and steer the blooming project.
The group began to experiment with a variety of locations such as the Staten Island Ferry, Times Square, Victoria’s Secret, Whole Foods, a Brooklyn laundromat, and elsewhere. Then, in 2012, the New York Times’ multimedia piece about PUP placed the dynamic collective on a range of radars throughout their national and international arts community, and since then, PUP has been invited to enliven diverse venues with their pop ups, such as the Queens Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as high schools throughout the Northern NY.
The group has also traveled nationally and internationally to participate in art symposiums and panel talks about public art. What began as a public art experiment has evolved into a company of poets and educators that provides a range of services that extend beyond performance.
This team partners with organizations and businesses to stage event pop ups, host poetry scrawls featuring local poets and artists and teach workshops around creative writing, performance and public art. To learn more about what PUP does, see the below videos and press kit.