Dial-A-Poem Montreal was a phone-based service started in 1985 by

Fortner Anderson Fortner Anderson (born 1955) is an American-born poet, performance artist, and visual artist who has lived in Montreal, Quebec, since 1976. He is the author of several volumes of poetry and has published many audio recordings of his spoken word pe ...

, who was inspired by

John Giorno John Giorno (December 4, 1936 – October 11, 2019) was an American performance poetry, poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experim ...

's Dial-A-Poem and wanted to expand poetry beyond the limits of print.Michael Farber. "A line of poetry just a dial away." ''The Gazette''. September 16, 1986. p. 3. Listeners in Montreal could call 843-7636 (THE-POEM) anytime of the day to hear a poem. The service ran from September 1985 to July 1987 and ended because Anderson lacked the time and money needed for the project to continue.Heather Hill. "First electronic novel hits computer screens." ''The Gazette''. August 1, 1987. p. 103. He produced the recordings himself and funded the project with his own money, sales of Clifford Duffy's first book ''Blue Dog Plus'', individual sponsorships, and sponsorships by bookstores, local craftsmen, and schools.Ray Filip
"Lord of the Rings."
''Books in Canada: A National Review of Books''. March 1986. p. 4. Accessed 15 August 2019. Participating bookstores included The Word Bookstore, Argo Bookshop, The Double Hook Book Shop, Steve Welch Books, and

Véhicule Press The Vehicule Poets was a collective formed in Montreal in the 1970s by poets Endre Farkas, Artie Gold, Tom Konyves, Claudia Lapp, John McAuley, Stephen Morrissey and Ken Norris, who shared an interest in experimental American poetry and European ...

. Anderson reported that in the first year, the service received about 200 phone calls a day and that over 150 poets contributed. He described the content of the poems as containing "themes of reaction to society's structures and structures, personal and social violence, topical issues of sex and gender, and people coping with alienation and the shifting ground of their own personalities."Ian Ferrier. "Dial-a-Poem : Montreal poets put works on the line." ''The Gazette''. October 1, 1985. p. 12. Dial-A-Poem Montreal participated in Canada's eighth National Book Festival in April 1986 by showcasing a poem by a participating poet for each day of the festival.Heather Hill. "Book fest focuses on Quebec writers." ''The Gazette''. April 15, 1986. p. 22. It celebrated it first anniversary September 1986 with a 100 Poets Party, where 11 hours of continuous recorded performance poetry was presented at Galerie Articule. Though predominantly showcasing Anglophone poets in Montreal, Dial-A-Poem Montreal also aired the work of poets from Vancouver who sent their recordings to Dial-A-Poem Montreal. Poets who read on Dial-A-Poem Montreal include:

Erín Moure Erín Moure (born 1955 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian poet and translator with 18 books of poetry, a coauthored book of poetry, a volume of essays, a book of articles on translation, a poetics, and two memoirs. She has translated or co-tran ...

, Howard Tessler, Bill Furey, Errol MacDonald, Raymond Filip, Clifford Duffy, Laurence Hutchman, Michael Toppings, Anne McLean,

Roo Borson Ruth Elizabeth Borson, who writes under the name Roo Borson (born January 20, 1952, in Berkeley, California) is a Canadian poet who lives in Toronto. After undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and Goddard College, she received an MFA from t ...

, Daphne Marlatt,

Tom Wayman Thomas Ethan Wayman (born 13 August 1945) is a Canadian author. Born in Hawkesbury, Ontario, Wayman has lived most of his life in British Columbia. He studied at the University of British Columbia (BA 1966), and the University of California, ...

, Claudia Lapp, Elizabeth Allen, Patrick Lane,

Lorna Crozier Lorna Crozier, (born 24 May 1948) is a Canadian poet, author, and former chair of the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. She is the author of twenty-five books and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011 as one of Ca ...

, Peter van Toorn, Endre Farkas, Brian Bartlett, Michael Harris, Noah Zacharin, Leo Kennedy, Esther Ross, Johanne Lafleur,

Margaret Christakos Margaret Christakos (born 1962 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Canadian poet who lives in Toronto. Life Christakos was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario. She is a Canadian poet, fiction author, literary essayist and creative writing instructor. Sinc ...

, R.G. Everson,

Louis Dudek Louis Dudek, (February 6, 1918 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books. In ''A Digital Hist ...

Irving Layton Irving Peter Layton, OC (March 12, 1912 – January 4, 2006) was a Romanian-born Canadian poet. He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following but also made him enemies. As T. Jacobs notes in his biography (2001 ...

Kathy Acker Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, critic, performance artist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that deal ...

Lynne Tillman Lynne Tillman (born January 1, 1947) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. She is currently Professor/Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at the University at Albany and teaches at the School of Visual Arts' Art Cri ...

, Chris Kraus, Sylvere Lotringer, David Rattray,

Edmundo Farolan Edmundo Farolán (d. Jan. 29, 2023) is a manileño Filipino-Canadian author. He won literary awards as a young writer-scholar while studying philosophy and letters in Madrid in the 1960s. He taught English, Spanish, and Media in various universit ...

, Manuel Betanzos Santos, Shulamis Yelin, and Renato Trujillo. Dial-A-Poem Montreal recently resumed with a 2020-2021 edition.

References

{{Reflist, 30em History of poetry Information by telephone Canadian poetry Culture of Montreal 1985 establishments in Quebec