"Word on the Street" Brings Typewriters to Downtown Everett
Editor’s Note: Originally published July 10, 2018, updated July 25, 2019.
type on typewriters around downtown Everett until august 6.
Bring your own paper and compose a poem to go. Or use the paper provided and respond to one of the city’s writing prompts.
This is Word on the Street, a civic art project designed to get people communicating with each other and interacting with their thoughts.
Word on the Street is one of my favorite parts of summer for the simple reason that I love typewriters. And I love seeing people enjoy themselves as they sit down to type on typewriters.
My love of typing probably isn’t surprising to people who know me. It’s my job to clack away at keys.
But my love for typewriters is different than tapping at a laptop. It's a tactile, physical sensation. It's the joy of hard copy thoughts spilling from a manual machine, the give of the carriage return lever, and the satisfying ding! of the platen sliding back to position. Hey, I even don't mind threading the ribbon. I suspect that almost everyone loves typewriters for this reason— typing is plain fun.
There’s no internet on a typewriter. No email. Nothing to distract you from your muse. There’s no screen to stare at. It's a machine with no frills, no hard drive, no "cloud."
Very nice.
Here’s an idea: the aspiring poet or novelist could practically camp at a Word on the Street typewriter for a month or so. You could really get some artistic heavy lifting done on the taxpayer’s dollar. Public art, indeed.
Will the great American novel be written this year on the streets of Colby, Hoyt, and Hewitt? I sure hope so.
Another idea. You could type the story of the city itself. It’s a story of how well-designed old things, things like brick buildings and timber houses and typewriters, can live on into the future, inspiring new generations in fresh ways.
That’s a good story.
But don't let me tell you what to write. Your muse awaits on the sidewalks of Everett.
Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.