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.

Created and led by Red Room Poetry Creative Producer Izzy Roberts-Orr, 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.

In early 2025, 10 new poems will be published by Red Room 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. Join Izzy for an online workshop to find out more, and polish up your poems to submit.

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