Google Maps: Mapping out the poets of SGWU Poetry Reading Series

Posted by celyn

Several data sets were mapped out in Google My Maps:
1. Birthplace of poets. This information is interesting as it shows how many Canadian/ American/ International poets were chosen for the readings.
2. Place associated most with the poet. This was a bit trickier to map out and sometimes a poet will have two locations on the map. The information gathered here provides a visual indication of where poets were coming from, and the schools of poetry they associated with. Connections become visible, and easier to trace when the poets are grouped in this way.
3. Then we wanted to map out time spent in Montreal. This immediately presented a spacial problem as all of the pin-points were in the same location, and differentiating temporal distinctions is almost impossible. So I created twelve separate maps for each semester of the Series (eg. Fall 1970, Winter 1971, etc). This map now visually groups poets by the period of time that they spent in Montreal (either reading at the series, teaching at SGWU or for any other reason). One great functionality (that doesn’t always seem to work) is that you can select to view several maps at the same time, overlapping. Go to the box on the top right hand side of the screen where you can choose to view other options like Map, Satellite, Traffic etc. and select the other maps.
Please let me know if you have any issues or questions!

Filed under Research