Poetry Hotline Provides Daily Poem Throughout Month of April

April marks National Poetry Month, so as a way to honor the occasion, Oregon’s very own poet laureate, Anis Mogjani, has set up a poetry hotline. Callers can dial in to listen to a recording of a new poem every day in April. Hotline: 503-928-7008. 

Think ‘Time and Temp,’ but more melodic, and with more substance and engaging language. The daily poems are read by different poet laureates, including Oregon’s sixth laureate Paulann Petersen. 

On the project, Mogjani, who is based out of Portland, told The Oregonian that his “hope is that it can provide folks with a continual relationship with poetic thought, idea, and language, whether one already has a relationship to poetry, or is new to it.” 

Linn-Benton Community College had the privilege and honor of hosting Mogjani last year for a virtual reading and writing workshop. He is Oregon’s tenth poet laureate, having assumed the position in April of 2020, and is also a National Individual Poetry Slam champion. 

Mogjani continues to find new and creative ways to share words and language with communities both local and distant. Prior to the hotline, he organized a few poetry readings out of the window of his Portland studio. There were balloons, candles, and a sizable sidewalk audience in attendance.

Feeling a little out of the poetry circle? Trust me, I get it — I’m a literature girl at my core. This Tele-Poems hotline is the perfect toe-dip you (and I) might need to venture into that world. So, program your speed dial. Melodic, lilting stanzas being crooned to you over the receiver are just a phone-call away. 

Photo by: NEOSiAM 2021