The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 12

Ctntwmwe, Montreal, Tuesday, October 1, 1985 Dial-a-Poem: Montreal poets put works on the line By IAN FERRIER Special to The Gazette For all those who were waiting for 24 hours access to poetry, Montreal publisher Fortner Anderson has launched the city's first Dial-a-Poem service. As of last week, anyone who phones 843-7636 is treated to original works on tape narrated by over 20 Montreal poets. The number translates as THE-POEM on your telephone' dial, and according to Anderson, the service was instituted to "raise poetry above its present level of public contempt and to provide a direct line into the emotional and spiritual lives of Montrealers." Changes at midnight It will feature 365 poems a year, on a schedule that changes poets at midnight each day. Poems average between four and six minutes in length, and are followed by instructions on where the poet's works are available. The publisher stated that while he did not feel competent to summarize what listeners could expect, some topics included "themes of reaction to society's strictures and structures, personal and social violence, topical issues of sex and gender, and people coping with alienation and the shifting ground of their own personalities." He warned that the service is not meant to function like Tel-Aid, and that four a.m.

callers may find themselves listening to poets who feel that society is not as bad as the caller thinks, but in fact much worse. When asked to rate the contents between the two extremes of "x-rated" and "suitable for an eight-year-old child," Anderson suggested that it was "most certainly x- The line-up for this week started with Errol MacDonald on Sept. 28, and continues with verse by Ray Filip, Clifford Duffy, Laurence Hutchman, Michael Toppings, Ann McLean and Bill Furey. Duffy's work deserves special mention, as it was profits from his first controversial book of poems, Blue Dog Plus, that allowed Anderson's Dromos Editions to create Dial-a Poem. The idea itself has a checkered history, and originated in New York City as the brainchild of American poet John Giorno.

New York City Dial-a-Poem got in extreme hot water when it turned out that the work of one poet, Diane Di Prima, featured instructions on how to build both mo-lotov cocktails and home-made bombs. That particular piece was airing on the same day that the IBM building was bombed by unknown terrorists in New York, and an enraged David Rockfeller demanded that the Museum of Modern Art close the project. FBI investigation The service withstood both Rockfeller's ire and a later investigation by the FBI, and the resulting publicity brought the number of callers up to 200,000 a week. It later spawned similar but less violent projects in Boston and Chicago. The first Canadian Dial-a-Poem, Free Verse, opened in Ottawa this summer, and can be reached from Montreal by dialing 1-613-738-0604.

According to Anderson, the two Canadian projects are unrelated, and the Montreal service will restrict itself to "emotional and spiritual violence" at most. if ii mil i i Montreal publisher Fortner Anderson, holding telephone, with some of his Dial Gazette. Len Sidaway a Poem contributors. lines such as "lips that could suck the chrome off a bumper hitch" from Howard Tessler's Donut Shop Poem, and "lunge for the dog's stale portion of sleep" Lunge by Erin Moure, Bill Furey's numerous versions of a rose included "the rose un- dressing in the mirror," "the rose in clothes falling," and "the rose pinned like a prayer to the lapel of the soul." Over 100 Million people have Died in Wars. Why? stroy Canada's work ethic, and create roving bands of disaffected office workers, leaving their jobs in search of the Canadian dream." The fact that the service has only one line makes this possibility remote, but Anderson states that if he can continue to find private sponsors he will not hesitate to install two or even three lines, and said that "my eventual megalomaniac IS Pulse 11:25 CC Barney Miller repeat, 11:30 3j Simon Simon pepeat Le Monde Les Sports La Couleur du temps C5J Tonight Host: Johnny Carson.

Scheduled, actress Alexandra Paul, singer Melissa Manchester. (60 mm.) (C; Zt ABC News Nightline Cinema La bourse et la vie. (1965) Fernandel. Jean Poiret. (1 50 mm.) CD lei Montreal Les Sports La couleur du temps S3 Cinema Jerry la grande gueule.

(1967) Jerry Lewis, Harold Stone. (2 10 mm.) BD Question Period (Signed) Latenight America Guest host: John Wade. Scheduled, a discussion of the epidemic of teen-age suicides in the S. (60 mm.) (533 Sports Tonight CH3 Arm Wrestling 11:50 OQ Cinema Jeannot la Fnme. (1979) Jean Le- febvre, Pierre Dons.

(1 50 mm.) 11:55 OO Movie The Sisters. (1938) Errol Flynn, Bette Davis. (2 hrs.) 12:00 SB Cinema line fos ne suffit pas. (1974) Deborah Ratlin, Kirk Douglas. (2 35 mm.) La petite maiaon dans la prairie Eye On Hollywood M.A.S.H SB Fall Guy 100 Huntley Street CO Jane Eyre (Parti o(5) (1 hr.) E33 NewsNight dream is to install an 800 number that will link the whole of Can- ada." Each day's poem is privately sponsored, and on the $50 a week charged to advertisers, Anderson concedes that such a dream is "out of reach for now." A survey of the line's first week in operation showed major peaks and valleys as far as the verse was concerned, and high points were G33 Bobby Cox And The Blue Jays 12.30 5.

Late Night With David Letterman Scheduled: Pete Townshend, Betty White, comedian Johnny Dark. (60 mm.) (3 Laverne Shirley Movie Sunburn. (1979) Farrah Fawcett, Charles Grodm. (2 5 mm.) Crossroads 1X1 Cinema La femme publique. (1983) Valerie Ka-pnsky, Francis Huster.

(1 55 mm.) 23 Canadian College Magazine 12:40 CJ Movie The Healers. (1974) John Forsythe, Pat Harrington Jr. (1 20 mm.) 1:00 Comedy Tonight 03 Movie Welcome To A. (1977) Keith Carra-dine, Sally Kellerman. (2 10 mm.) S3 Nadine Gordimer Story: Interview With Nadine Gordimer CU Stage: Reith C3 Movie The Cheaters.

(1976) Luc Merenda. Dayle Haddon. (1 30 mm.) 1:30 8 News 0133 NewsNight Update 2:25 Cli Cinema Baiafre. (1983) Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer. (2 50 mm.) 2:30 KID Sports LateNight C3 Movie Death Weekend.

(1977) Brenda Vac-caro. Don Stroud, uli (1 30 mm.) 2:35 Waltons 3:10 Matt Houston 4:00 SZ3 Movie A Quiet Day In Belfast. (1975) Barry Foster, Margot Kidder. (1 30 mm.) sV rated, and certainly your eight-year-old should phone." To illustrate that the service is not harmful, the publisher pointed to his 18-month-old daugher, who had suffered no ill-effects from listening to a poem by Erin Moure, and had exercised her rights by hanging up halfway through. Nevertheless, Anderson does hope that the line will at least "de SB Night Heat (Su A Communiquer S3 Parents And Children: Six Vital Issues Nadine Gordimer Story: Interview With Nadine Gordimer 3 Lire e'est vivre: Le complexe de Broadway de Damon Runyon 033 News CD Sheens Easton Spotlight CTJ Cinema La porte du paradis.

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Ub (1 45 mm.) EED SportsDesk 11:05 OO Nouvelles du sport Telex arts 11:15 Le 9 vous informe SB Le 13 vous informe 11:20 SD Rencontres 0 News Jf jfffk. VVhv has there been a vears for the past three centuries? Don't miss military historian Gwynne Dyer's personal look at how we ficht whv up ficrhf nH whi can't continue fighting anymore. 14 A Tfy maior war everv 50 Tuesday, 9:00 PM Repeats Sunday at 4:00 pm 7:00 BOi Nature tans frontiere 13' CSS News OOO Peau de banane Gfi Gzowski Co. tMMitnij 11 World Today Wheel Of Fortune Newlywed Game Entertainment Tonight Gillet pure laine 3Z Three's Company Automania f3i Business Report '5? MacNeil Lehrer Newshour 3 Aujourd'hui la vie: Les puces ont cent ans (XJ Great Detective lioJ Moneyline 033 SportsDesk 7:30 OOOO L'Agent fait le bonheur Price Is Right CI CD Les Deux font la paire OO Golden Girls M.A.S.H (ID Carson's Comedy Classics (B Lome Greene's New Wilderness CP Kalian Gourmet Cooking Gi Defi survivre 2Z Benny Hill 63 Mayic Shadows The Great American Broadcast. (1941) (Part 2 of 4) Alice Faye.

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(1 982) Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye. (2 hrs.) S3 Sorrell And Son (33, War: A Commentary By Gwynne Dyer FSEMjERE P(1 hr.) (eJ Great Performances To The Lighthouse. Rosemary Harris. p( ptAT (2 hrs.) CD Infovision C3 Stage: Reith ED Larry King Live 9:30 Bits Pieces K3 Movie Going BerserK. (1983) John Candy, Joe Flaherty.

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