In 1968, John Giorno launched Dial-A-Poem, a project that brought poetry into everyday life by distributing it over the phone and presenting it in performed rather than written form. Nearly 60 years on, Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS) and MAMCO, are reviving this original model with Dial-A-Poem Switzerland, bringing together voices from Switzerland’s diverse language communities. The contributing poets, writers, thinkers, lyricists and figures from the worlds of theater and film all have one thing in common: each has shaped their artistic expression through the medium of the word, its meaning and its sound.
This outdoor project takes place at the Bains des Pâquis, where a telephone is installed in an old phone booth. There will be free poems on offer for anyone who picks up the phone or calls the Dial-A-Poem Switzerland number.