Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
In celebration of National Poetry Month and the release of Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, members from the Poetry Collection, Music Library, and the Student Library Engagement Workgroup (SLEW) hosted “In Our Poetry Era,” an afternoon of poetry and Swift-themed activities. UB students arrived in their Taylor Swift merch to make friendship bracelets, write poems on typewriters, take Polaroid photos, and meet other Swifties. Also on display were a silent film by the original “It” girl Clara Bow (namesake of the final song on the album) and a pop-up exhibit of materials from the Poetry Collection, Rare & Special Books Collection, and Music Library, including some of Swift’s literary references from Shakespeare’s first folio to Sylvia Plath’s Ariel, poetry books by pop musicians, and music scores by Swift and others. As one of the largest poetry libraries of its kind in the world, the Poetry Collection was thrilled to welcome UB students to their new poetry era.