(Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani | Photos courtesy of Oregon Humanities)
Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani has brought back the Tele-Poem Telephone Line for National Poetry Month. Poetry-lovers can call 503-928-7008 to hear Mojgani and other Oregon poets reading their work. The Tele-Poem line will feature a different poem each day through April 30.
“When we did the poetry telephone line last year, there was such a delight in people’s response to it that I was really excited to hopefully bring it back around this year too,” Mojgani says. “What I love about the project is that it supplies to us something uncertain and unknown––we don’t know what we will receive when we call this number – –but in this case the uncertainty is not anything that we have to fear, which I think is lovely and needed, to be reminded that the unknown can also be a deliverer of goodness in our lives. And I think there’s something beautiful about us getting a moment in our day, should we choose to step towards it, that allows us to quiet down around all the noise, even if but for a moment, and to do such by way of this tool that has often these days been the bullhorn of much of our daily noise, adds a little extra sweetness.”
The Tele-Poem project debuted in 2022, and featured readings from past Poets Laureate along with Mojgani. This year, Mojgani invited several poets from around the state to contribute recordings, including Paulann Petersen, Stephanie Adams-Santos and Kim Stafford.
Mojgani is the tenth Oregon Poet Laureate, now serving his second two-year term. He is the author of five books of poetry including his latest, In the Pockets of Small Gods. His sixth book, The Tigers They Let Me, is forthcoming from Write Bloody in June 2023. He has done commissioned work for the Getty Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Portland Timbers.
Oregon named its first Poet Laureate, Edwin Markham, in 1923. In celebration of the centennial, Mojgani will appear with past Poets Laureate Paulann Petersen and Kim Stafford at Lake Oswego Public Library on April 6 at 7pm. The program will be streamed live on the library’s YouTube channel.
The Oregon Poet Laureate program is administered by Oregon Humanities and supported by the Oregon Cultural Trust.