What if?  by poet laureate Andrew Motion adorns the side of a Hallam University building. Written for the 2007 ‘Off The Shelf ‘literature festival.

From the Sheffield Telegraph 01 November 2007:

Travellers to and from Sheffield rail station took a longer look than normal at the side of Hallam University’s Owen Building on Wednesday afternoon.

A light show playing on the wall revealed a 131 feet tall poem, What If?, by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, who was in Sheffield for the unveiling.

In the past, the royal poet has written several poems to mark events ranging from Prince William’s 21st birthday to the Paddington rail disaster.

He has also written poems displayed on the Underground in London, and in several parks. However, the poem now on the wall of the Owen Building, part of Hallam’s central campus overlooking Howard Street, is the most conspicuous he has been commissioned to do, he said.

It was part of the Off the Shelf’s literary festival’s Text and the City project, which has already unveiled public art poems around Sheffield.

Andrew Motion was commissioned to write something to attract travellers on their way to and coming back from the station.

He said he was never in doubt that he should take on the project.

“I have honorary degrees from both Hallam University and the University of Sheffield. This was my chance to give something back to Sheffield,” he said.

The poem reflects arrival in a new city and the surprises and opportunities it can offer. “I wanted to say something about what someone arriving in this city would feel.

Paul Swales, the public arts consultant who has coordinated all of Text and the City’s public art projects in Sheffield, said it took two weeks and two teams of workers to put the large poem on the wall.

Listen to the poem whatif

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