{"id":133065,"date":"2013-03-18T17:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T21:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=133065"},"modified":"2019-06-06T15:18:35","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T19:18:35","slug":"poetic-greetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2013\/03\/poetic-greetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetic greetings"},"content":{"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone-a-poem-exhibition.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Visitors to Lamont Library\u2019s Woodberry Poetry Room can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Enrique Diaz\/Lamont Library<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tArts &amp; Culture\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tPoetic greetings\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tColin Manning\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tFAS Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2013-03-18\">\n\t\t\tMarch 18, 2013\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tExhibit connects visitors with archive of answering machine readings\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>There was a time when you could pick up the telephone, dial a number, and hear Allen Ginsberg reading one of his poems. Another day it might have been Denise Levertov, or Donald Hall, or James Tate.<\/p>\n<p>For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. An exhibition at Lamont Library\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.harvard.edu\/libraries\/poetryroom\">Woodberry Poetry Room<\/a> presents 20 recordings from the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archives, which are now digitized and housed at Harvard. The exhibition also includes 15 recently commissioned \u201canswering machine poems\u201d by such poets as Charles Bernstein, Forrest Gander, and Anne Waldman.<\/p>\n\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem<\/h4><div class=\"soundbytes\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4146227&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=A51C30\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\n<p>\u201cWhat interested me was the intersection of these two technologies: poetry and the telephone, both of which rely on the voice and on silence, on interpretation and timing, to get their messages across,\u201d said Christina Davis, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room. \u201cThe exhibit returns us to the dialogic, the idea of poetry as a conversation. Instead of thinking of poetry as a monologue, it revives the urgency and momentum of the poet\u2019s voice in its journey toward another person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works in the 90-second bursts the cassettes allowed. The exhibition also contains photos and correspondence from the likes of Maxine Kumin and Marge Piercy. In one letter, Hall describes the difficulty he had in recording his poem, using several tape recorders before finding one that worked properly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d was started by Cambridge poet Peter Payack, who said he was looking for a vehicle to bring verse to a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave the average person a chance to hear a poem, and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could just hang up,\u201d Payack said. \u201cUsually, if you wanted to hear the poet\u2019s voice you had to go to poetry readings, which can be intimidating. But this allowed people to hear the poet\u2019s voice in their own home, so it wouldn\u2019t be intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said he averaged 2,000 to 3,000 calls a week right from the beginning, about 10 times greater than the average distribution rate of a small literary magazine. \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d grew in popularity over time.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone  size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg 500w, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg?resize=48,32 48w, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg?resize=96,64 96w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p>\u201cWe would actually burn out our answering machines, which was unexpected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Payack would mail a cassette to a poet along with a note requesting a reading. Most of them, no matter how well-known, agreed to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The collection features only a small sample of the contributions to \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d \u2014 cassettes were taped over once they were full.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think about it, that\u2019s what you did back then: When the tape was full, you didn\u2019t get a new one, you taped over the one you had, much like a palimpsest,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThat is why it is important that we have this archive here: to remember the constraints, and liberations, of any given medium or mode of communication, and to consider how these technologies operated much like literary forms and structures to encourage and compel certain choices: What words will I write on this page? What message will I leave on this machine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said part of his goal was to take poetry out of the libraries and put it in a more public space, and noted the irony in the recordings finding a home in a library.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited it is being archived at Harvard because it is a safe environment where they will be available for the future. And I am really excited that young poets of the future can see this attempt to get poetry out of books and magazines and give it back to the people, where it belonged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition runs until May 1.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Woodberry Poetry Room exhibition features the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archive, a Cambridge-based service that for 25 years allowed callers to dial in and listen to a famous poet recite his or her work as it was played back on an answering machine.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":133107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":12,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2019-12-07 04:09","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"Colin Manning","affiliation":"FAS Communications","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1360],"tags":[8157,8720,12941,13050,15544,21122,22486,36147],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-133065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-humanities","tag-christina-davis","tag-colin-manning","tag-faculty-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-fas","tag-harvard-college","tag-lamont-library","tag-manning","tag-woodberry-poetry-room"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.0 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Poetic greetings &#8212; 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Culture\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tPoetic greetings\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tColin Manning\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tFAS Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2013-03-18\">\n\t\t\tMarch 18, 2013\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tExhibit connects visitors with archive of answering machine readings\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>There was a time when you could pick up the telephone, dial a number, and hear Allen Ginsberg reading one of his poems. Another day it might have been Denise Levertov, or Donald Hall, or James Tate.<\/p>\n<p>For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. An exhibition at Lamont Library\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.harvard.edu\/libraries\/poetryroom\">Woodberry Poetry Room<\/a> presents 20 recordings from the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archives, which are now digitized and housed at Harvard. The exhibition also includes 15 recently commissioned \u201canswering machine poems\u201d by such poets as Charles Bernstein, Forrest Gander, and Anne Waldman.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>There was a time when you could pick up the telephone, dial a number, and hear Allen Ginsberg reading one of his poems. Another day it might have been Denise Levertov, or Donald Hall, or James Tate.<\/p>\n<p>For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. An exhibition at Lamont Library\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.harvard.edu\/libraries\/poetryroom\">Woodberry Poetry Room<\/a> presents 20 recordings from the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archives, which are now digitized and housed at Harvard. The exhibition also includes 15 recently commissioned \u201canswering machine poems\u201d by such poets as Charles Bernstein, Forrest Gander, and Anne Waldman.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>There was a time when you could pick up the telephone, dial a number, and hear Allen Ginsberg reading one of his poems. Another day it might have been Denise Levertov, or Donald Hall, or James Tate.<\/p>\n<p>For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. An exhibition at Lamont Library\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.harvard.edu\/libraries\/poetryroom\">Woodberry Poetry Room<\/a> presents 20 recordings from the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archives, which are now digitized and housed at Harvard. The exhibition also includes 15 recently commissioned \u201canswering machine poems\u201d by such poets as Charles Bernstein, Forrest Gander, and Anne Waldman.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"headingLevel":4,"textAlign":"","content":"Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem<\/h4>","innerContent":["<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem<\/h4>"],"rendered":"<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem<\/h4>"},{"blockName":"core\/html","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<div class=\"soundbytes\"><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4146227&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=A51C30\"><\/iframe><\/div>","innerContent":["<div class=\"soundbytes\"><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4146227&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=A51C30\"><\/iframe><\/div>"],"rendered":"<div class=\"soundbytes\"><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4146227&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=A51C30\"><\/iframe><\/div>"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>\u201cWhat interested me was the intersection of these two technologies: poetry and the telephone, both of which rely on the voice and on silence, on interpretation and timing, to get their messages across,\u201d said Christina Davis, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room. \u201cThe exhibit returns us to the dialogic, the idea of poetry as a conversation. Instead of thinking of poetry as a monologue, it revives the urgency and momentum of the poet\u2019s voice in its journey toward another person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works in the 90-second bursts the cassettes allowed. The exhibition also contains photos and correspondence from the likes of Maxine Kumin and Marge Piercy. In one letter, Hall describes the difficulty he had in recording his poem, using several tape recorders before finding one that worked properly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d was started by Cambridge poet Peter Payack, who said he was looking for a vehicle to bring verse to a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave the average person a chance to hear a poem, and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could just hang up,\u201d Payack said. \u201cUsually, if you wanted to hear the poet\u2019s voice you had to go to poetry readings, which can be intimidating. But this allowed people to hear the poet\u2019s voice in their own home, so it wouldn\u2019t be intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said he averaged 2,000 to 3,000 calls a week right from the beginning, about 10 times greater than the average distribution rate of a small literary magazine. \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d grew in popularity over time.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>\u201cWhat interested me was the intersection of these two technologies: poetry and the telephone, both of which rely on the voice and on silence, on interpretation and timing, to get their messages across,\u201d said Christina Davis, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room. \u201cThe exhibit returns us to the dialogic, the idea of poetry as a conversation. Instead of thinking of poetry as a monologue, it revives the urgency and momentum of the poet\u2019s voice in its journey toward another person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works in the 90-second bursts the cassettes allowed. The exhibition also contains photos and correspondence from the likes of Maxine Kumin and Marge Piercy. In one letter, Hall describes the difficulty he had in recording his poem, using several tape recorders before finding one that worked properly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d was started by Cambridge poet Peter Payack, who said he was looking for a vehicle to bring verse to a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave the average person a chance to hear a poem, and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could just hang up,\u201d Payack said. \u201cUsually, if you wanted to hear the poet\u2019s voice you had to go to poetry readings, which can be intimidating. But this allowed people to hear the poet\u2019s voice in their own home, so it wouldn\u2019t be intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said he averaged 2,000 to 3,000 calls a week right from the beginning, about 10 times greater than the average distribution rate of a small literary magazine. \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d grew in popularity over time.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cWhat interested me was the intersection of these two technologies: poetry and the telephone, both of which rely on the voice and on silence, on interpretation and timing, to get their messages across,\u201d said Christina Davis, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room. \u201cThe exhibit returns us to the dialogic, the idea of poetry as a conversation. Instead of thinking of poetry as a monologue, it revives the urgency and momentum of the poet\u2019s voice in its journey toward another person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works in the 90-second bursts the cassettes allowed. The exhibition also contains photos and correspondence from the likes of Maxine Kumin and Marge Piercy. In one letter, Hall describes the difficulty he had in recording his poem, using several tape recorders before finding one that worked properly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d was started by Cambridge poet Peter Payack, who said he was looking for a vehicle to bring verse to a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave the average person a chance to hear a poem, and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could just hang up,\u201d Payack said. \u201cUsually, if you wanted to hear the poet\u2019s voice you had to go to poetry readings, which can be intimidating. But this allowed people to hear the poet\u2019s voice in their own home, so it wouldn\u2019t be intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said he averaged 2,000 to 3,000 calls a week right from the beginning, about 10 times greater than the average distribution rate of a small literary magazine. \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d grew in popularity over time.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"none","id":133109,"caption":"For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg","alt":"","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone  size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133109\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone  size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133109\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone  size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133109\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>\u201cWe would actually burn out our answering machines, which was unexpected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Payack would mail a cassette to a poet along with a note requesting a reading. Most of them, no matter how well-known, agreed to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The collection features only a small sample of the contributions to \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d \u2014 cassettes were taped over once they were full.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think about it, that\u2019s what you did back then: When the tape was full, you didn\u2019t get a new one, you taped over the one you had, much like a palimpsest,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThat is why it is important that we have this archive here: to remember the constraints, and liberations, of any given medium or mode of communication, and to consider how these technologies operated much like literary forms and structures to encourage and compel certain choices: What words will I write on this page? What message will I leave on this machine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said part of his goal was to take poetry out of the libraries and put it in a more public space, and noted the irony in the recordings finding a home in a library.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited it is being archived at Harvard because it is a safe environment where they will be available for the future. And I am really excited that young poets of the future can see this attempt to get poetry out of books and magazines and give it back to the people, where it belonged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition runs until May 1.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>\u201cWe would actually burn out our answering machines, which was unexpected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Payack would mail a cassette to a poet along with a note requesting a reading. Most of them, no matter how well-known, agreed to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The collection features only a small sample of the contributions to \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d \u2014 cassettes were taped over once they were full.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think about it, that\u2019s what you did back then: When the tape was full, you didn\u2019t get a new one, you taped over the one you had, much like a palimpsest,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThat is why it is important that we have this archive here: to remember the constraints, and liberations, of any given medium or mode of communication, and to consider how these technologies operated much like literary forms and structures to encourage and compel certain choices: What words will I write on this page? What message will I leave on this machine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said part of his goal was to take poetry out of the libraries and put it in a more public space, and noted the irony in the recordings finding a home in a library.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited it is being archived at Harvard because it is a safe environment where they will be available for the future. And I am really excited that young poets of the future can see this attempt to get poetry out of books and magazines and give it back to the people, where it belonged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition runs until May 1.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cWe would actually burn out our answering machines, which was unexpected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Payack would mail a cassette to a poet along with a note requesting a reading. Most of them, no matter how well-known, agreed to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The collection features only a small sample of the contributions to \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d \u2014 cassettes were taped over once they were full.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think about it, that\u2019s what you did back then: When the tape was full, you didn\u2019t get a new one, you taped over the one you had, much like a palimpsest,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThat is why it is important that we have this archive here: to remember the constraints, and liberations, of any given medium or mode of communication, and to consider how these technologies operated much like literary forms and structures to encourage and compel certain choices: What words will I write on this page? What message will I leave on this machine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said part of his goal was to take poetry out of the libraries and put it in a more public space, and noted the irony in the recordings finding a home in a library.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited it is being archived at Harvard because it is a safe environment where they will be available for the future. And I am really excited that young poets of the future can see this attempt to get poetry out of books and magazines and give it back to the people, where it belonged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition runs until May 1.<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\r\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>There was a time when you could pick up the telephone, dial a number, and hear Allen Ginsberg reading one of his poems. Another day it might have been Denise Levertov, or Donald Hall, or James Tate.<\/p>\n<p>For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. An exhibition at Lamont Library\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/library.harvard.edu\/libraries\/poetryroom\">Woodberry Poetry Room<\/a> presents 20 recordings from the \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d archives, which are now digitized and housed at Harvard. The exhibition also includes 15 recently commissioned \u201canswering machine poems\u201d by such poets as Charles Bernstein, Forrest Gander, and Anne Waldman.<\/p>\n\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Soundbytes: Phone-a-Poem<\/h4><div class=\"soundbytes\"><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4146227&amp;auto_play=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=A51C30\"><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\n<p>\u201cWhat interested me was the intersection of these two technologies: poetry and the telephone, both of which rely on the voice and on silence, on interpretation and timing, to get their messages across,\u201d said Christina Davis, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room. \u201cThe exhibit returns us to the dialogic, the idea of poetry as a conversation. Instead of thinking of poetry as a monologue, it revives the urgency and momentum of the poet\u2019s voice in its journey toward another person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visitors can pick up a retro-looking handset and listen to renowned poets \u2014 some of the greatest of the past 50 years \u2014 recite their works in the 90-second bursts the cassettes allowed. The exhibition also contains photos and correspondence from the likes of Maxine Kumin and Marge Piercy. In one letter, Hall describes the difficulty he had in recording his poem, using several tape recorders before finding one that worked properly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d was started by Cambridge poet Peter Payack, who said he was looking for a vehicle to bring verse to a wider audience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave the average person a chance to hear a poem, and if they didn\u2019t like it, they could just hang up,\u201d Payack said. \u201cUsually, if you wanted to hear the poet\u2019s voice you had to go to poetry readings, which can be intimidating. But this allowed people to hear the poet\u2019s voice in their own home, so it wouldn\u2019t be intimidating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said he averaged 2,000 to 3,000 calls a week right from the beginning, about 10 times greater than the average distribution rate of a small literary magazine. \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d grew in popularity over time.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone  size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/phone_a_poem_archive_dark.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133109\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">For 25 years, Cambridge-based \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d provided a vehicle for poetry through the telephone and answering machine, still a technological wonder when the service was started in 1976. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p>\u201cWe would actually burn out our answering machines, which was unexpected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Payack would mail a cassette to a poet along with a note requesting a reading. Most of them, no matter how well-known, agreed to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The collection features only a small sample of the contributions to \u201cPhone-a-Poem\u201d \u2014 cassettes were taped over once they were full.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think about it, that\u2019s what you did back then: When the tape was full, you didn\u2019t get a new one, you taped over the one you had, much like a palimpsest,\u201d said Davis. \u201cThat is why it is important that we have this archive here: to remember the constraints, and liberations, of any given medium or mode of communication, and to consider how these technologies operated much like literary forms and structures to encourage and compel certain choices: What words will I write on this page? What message will I leave on this machine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Payack said part of his goal was to take poetry out of the libraries and put it in a more public space, and noted the irony in the recordings finding a home in a library.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am excited it is being archived at Harvard because it is a safe environment where they will be available for the future. And I am really excited that young poets of the future can see this attempt to get poetry out of books and magazines and give it back to the people, where it belonged,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition runs until May 1.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11584,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2009\/04\/harvard-has-new-poetry-web-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":0},"title":"Harvard has new poetry Web site","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"On an abnormally sweltering spring day, one would expect to see patches of Harvard students sunbathing in the Yard, not reading poetry inside Lamont Library. But a throng of students, faculty, and staff gathered inside the modest-sized Woodberry Poetry Room on a sultry Tuesday (April 28) evening to celebrate the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arts &amp; Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arts &amp; Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42569,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2004\/02\/local-poet-teacher-george-starbuck-honored\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":1},"title":"Local poet, teacher George Starbuck honored","author":"gazetteimport","date":"February 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"George Starbuck (1931-1996) is a poet known for his wit, intelligence, and precision he was the winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize for his first book of poems and director of writing programs at the University of Iowa and Boston University. A new collection of Starbucks poetry,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":153820,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/03\/a-new-chapter-in-verse\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":2},"title":"A new chapter in verse","author":"harvardgazette","date":"March 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Woodberry Poetry Room is sponsoring a series focused on rethinking the possibilities of the creative-writing workshop.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arts &amp; Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arts &amp; Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/workshop-at-the-wpr_605_11.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/workshop-at-the-wpr_605_11.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/workshop-at-the-wpr_605_11.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9456,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2006\/04\/construction-to-temporarily-close-poetry-room-parts-of-yenching\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":3},"title":"Construction to temporarily close Poetry Room, parts of Yenching","author":"gazetteimport","date":"April 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Woodberry Poetry Room in Lamont Library will be closed for extensive renovations from May 29 to Sept. 10, during which time the collection will not be available for use. The room will reopen Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. Please contact curator Don Share (via e-mail at share@fas.harvard.edu or phone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7695,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2006\/09\/a-renovated-woodberry-poetry-room\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":4},"title":"A renovated Woodberry Poetry Room","author":"harvardgazette","date":"September 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This week the George Edward Woodberry Poetry Room reopened after a summerlong renovation, reuniting scholars, poets, and poetry lovers with an unprecedented collection of books, pamphlets, magazines, broadsides, manuscripts, video recordings of poets, rare author photographs, and paintings and sculptures created by poets - in fact anything related to 20th\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arts &amp; Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arts &amp; Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":219253,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2001\/02\/harvard-gazette-the-big-picture-2-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":133065,"position":5},"title":"The Big Picture","author":"gazetteimport","date":"February 15, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"\"This is something!\" Don Share proclaims, rising out of his seat and bustling over to the shelves by his desk. He picks up a can \u0096 it looks like a soup can, or '60s Warholian facsimile thereof, with its scripted red C. \"The first magazine in a can,\" is written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Don Share","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/02\/05-donshare-450-11.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277967,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133065\/revisions\/277967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133065"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=133065"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=133065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}