- Jul 20, 2016
- 6,572
- 20,209
What a wonderful idea to make poetry fun and accessible, especially for local residents. I can see all kinds of uses - adding your own poem, creating a poem for a special person, who then dials it up to listen. Young people could have an opportunity to get a poem published. Also, it would be so much fun for a community.
Local arts group Voices Productions partnered with Humanities Iowa to bring the booth to Dubuque for a one-year stay. “I envision the Telepoem Booth as an art installation, a combination of abandoned functional architecture and art,” said Sam Mulgrew, director of Voices Productions.
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports the first Telepoem Booth was installed in Mesa, Ariz., in March 2016. There currently are five booths in four states, with locations in Santa Fe and Las Vegas, N.M.; Bisbee, Ariz.; State College, Pa.; and now, Dubuque.
The Iowa Telepoem Booth previously was stationed in Council Bluffs before making its way to Dubuque. Its directory is almost entirely composed of Iowa-based poets, including Bellevue writer Julianne Couch. Couch can be heard in the Telepoem Booth performing her song “What Brings Youse to Bellevue, Then,” which she wrote as a newcomer to Bellevue approximately 10 years ago. She hopes the Telepoem Booth encourages others that they, too, can be artists.
Keith Lesmeister, a Decorah resident who teaches at Northeast Iowa Community College, also has a poem featured in the booth. He said the Telepoem Booth’s accessibility — it’s open to the public for free, 24 hours a day — can facilitate connections between writers and listeners. “You don’t have to have a subscription; you don’t have to pay to view or read,” he said. “I think it’s a wonderful way to connect the population in general with poetry and creative writing.”
