The Dial-a-Poem Hotline

John Giorno at Dial-a-Poem in 1969

In 1969 if you wanted to hear spoken poetry, and you weren’t anywhere near a big city or a counterculture scene your options were limited. Dial-A-Poem was an idea that could make poetry accessible to millions of fans. Artist and activist John Giorno set up 15 rotary telephones in a room at the Architectural League in NYC. There were 15 answering machines for each of the phones, which you could call from anywhere and listen to a poem at random. The hotlines were changed everyday by Giorno with new selections. Stickers advertising the phone number were placed in public phone booths, in cafés, on bulletin boards and on the subways.

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