Poetry Lane
Poetry Lane by Hiba Abdallah and Paul Edward Costa is one of over 35 public artworks on display across the City of Mississauga.
Paul Edward Costa and Hiba Abdallah, 2021
Aluminum signage
Burnhamthorpe multi-use trail
About the artwork
Poetry Lane is a temporary art installation created by artist Hiba Abdallah and Mississauga poet laureate Paul Edward Costa. Located along 4 km of the Burnhamthorpe Trail between Dixie Drive and Absolute Avenue, the artwork consists of 10 aluminum signs, each containing a poem and design that reflects the surrounding environment and community.
Gallery
About the artists
Hiba Abdallah is an artist and educator who frequently works with others. Her practice explores the structural legacies and futures of cities by researching the intersections of collaboration and disagreement as productive frameworks for re-imagining public agency.
She received her BFA from the University of Windsor in 2012 and her MFA from the University of Guelph in 2017. She currently lives and works as an uninvited guest on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe, the Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississauga’s of the Credit River.
Paul Edward Costa was the City’s Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2021. He is a writer, teacher, and spoken word artist. He has published over sixty stories, poems, and articles in literary journals worldwide. He performs spoken word at a variety of poetry events as an open mic or featured artist.
His novella “Dark Magic on the Edge of Town” was published in 2016 with Paperback-Press, and his book of poetry “The Long Train of Chaos” was published in August 2019 by Kung Fu Treachery Press.
Paul regularly gives talks at meetings of The Mississauga Writers’ Group, hosts and curates The YTGA Open Mic Series at Studio.89, and is co-organizer of the Mississauga Arts Council’s series Verses Out Loud: A Spoken Word and Poetry Open Mic.
Paul earned a Specialized Honours BA in History and a BA in Education at York University. He teaches high school English and History with the Peel District School Board.
More information
Poetry Lane is a collaboration between the City’s Poet Laureate and Public Art Program.
Read more about the Poet Laureate Program.