phone-a-poem

phone a poem

Pick up the landline handset and dial a number to hear a poem. Harnessing the magic of the Wonderfoon (made in Nederlands), each number on the rotary phone unlocks a unique poem read by the poet. Phone-a-Poem riffs on John Giorno’s iconic 1969 artwork, ‘Dial-a-Poem’, featuring work by contemporary Australian poets.

Phone-a-Poem invites audiences to pause, pick up a handset and enter the space of the poem. An interactive and tactile experience designed to extend our audio archive from the digital realm into public space, Phone-a-Poem encourages audiences of all ages to engage with poetry.

Thanks to support from Regional Arts Victoria, 10 new paid poetry commissions will be published by Red Room Poetry in support of this project, building on pilot installations of the project at Lerderderg Library for World Poetry Day 2024. Submissions open in November, prioritising poets based in or with a strong connection to regional Victoria.

I'll be running some free poetry workshops as part of this project in my local area, and online. Sign up to my Poem Post newsletter to stay in the loop.

Originally created as a digital experience using a softphone IVR system as Poem Phone for the 2018 Digital Writers’ Festival.

This project is proudly supported by Regional Arts Victoria through the Regional Arts Fund Project Grants.

Upcoming Workshops

BOOKED OUT: Phone-a-Poem Poetry Workshop (ONLINE)
🗓️ 6:30-8pm AEDT, Tuesday 12 November
📍 Online via Zoom
🎟️ FREE, book here
Presented with support from Red Room Poetry

NEW DATE ADDED: Phone-a-Poem Poetry Workshop (ONLINE)
🗓️ 6:30-8pm AEDT, Tuesday 26 November
📍 Online via Zoom
🎟️ FREE, book here
Presented with support from Red Room Poetry