TYPE RIDER:
Cycling the Great American Poem
My name is Maya Stein and on May 5, 2012, on the day I turned 40, I set out
by bicycle from Amherst, Massachusetts to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, toting a typewriter behind me. I rode for 40 days and about 1,300 miles with my Remington Ten Forty and a folding table and chair. Along the way, I stopped in communities, set up a
mobile typing booth, and invited people to contribute their words to a growing, collaborative piece of writing.
To read about the Type Rider journey, visit my trip blog at http://spoke-n-word.posterous.com/
Why Milwaukee? It
happens to be the birthplace of the typewriter.
Why did I do this on a bicycle? I loved the idea of slowing down enough to really see where I am, to go at a pace that allows for a deeper engagement with my environment. It also felt important to make the experience of participating as accessible as possible to others, and by riding my bicycle I there were natural, spontaneous, and rewarding connections that opened the project to a wonderfully diverse collection of writing.
Why 40? Because reaching a milestone like this - or any kind of milestone for that matter - offers up an invitation to stretch into new territory and at the same time to engage more deeply in the work that we love, and to celebrate the passage of time with a positive, physical, creative, and invigorating journey.
My route, including the Type Rider events, can be found on the "Itinerary" link.
Why did I do this on a bicycle? I loved the idea of slowing down enough to really see where I am, to go at a pace that allows for a deeper engagement with my environment. It also felt important to make the experience of participating as accessible as possible to others, and by riding my bicycle I there were natural, spontaneous, and rewarding connections that opened the project to a wonderfully diverse collection of writing.
Why 40? Because reaching a milestone like this - or any kind of milestone for that matter - offers up an invitation to stretch into new territory and at the same time to engage more deeply in the work that we love, and to celebrate the passage of time with a positive, physical, creative, and invigorating journey.
My route, including the Type Rider events, can be found on the "Itinerary" link.
