Indigenous writer and U of T professor featured in ‘Dial-a-Poem’ project
An Indigenous author and University of Toronto assistant professor is being featured in a pandemic-era edition of “Dial-a-Poem,” a project that encourages individuals to call in weekly and listen to writers perform some of their work.
Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, an Anishinaabe writer and founder of Kegedonce Press, said that she was aware of Dial-a-Poem from the 1980s, when it was first launched in Montreal by poet Fortner Anderson. But she said she hadn’t heard much about it since.
“I received an email from the organizer of it in Montreal, asking if I'd be interested in participating,” she said. “As soon as I heard about it. I was like wow, that is amazing and really cool. I want to be part of that.”
This week, people who dial 514-558-8649 will be able to hear one of two English poems by Akiwenzie-Damm—“Funny Business (How Nanabush romanced the stone)” or “Reconciling the Books.”
Speaking with CTV News Toronto, Akiwenzie-Damm said that both of her poems are from a newer collection and she wanted to give them a trial run through Dial-A-Poem. At the same time, she also thought about how they would translate in audio form, adding that listening to a poem on the phone is “very intense” and “personal.”
“We’re used to having private conversations (on the phone) and so it feels intimate in a way that it wouldn’t in a cafe or in a university auditorium or wherever else you might hear poetry or spoken word.”
“Funny Business” is a slightly humourous tale chosen because Akiwenzie-Damm finds it a fun read and “Reconciling the Books” is a passionate reading meant to enlist empathy and understanding for truth and reconciliation.
While Dial-A-Poem was launched in Montreal in the late 1980s, the program has been around since the 1960s. Since then, similar projects have popped up in waves across North America and Europe.
The most recent Montreal edition was re-launched in December 2020 amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic by ARCMLT, a non-profit organization called ARCMLT dedicated to preserving local Montreal culture.
The organization had also spent the last couple years digitizing and archiving poems from the 1980s Dial-a-Poem project. Those poems are also available on this year’s phone line.
Akiwenzie-Damm said that she is honoured to take part in this year’s project and hopes that it makes poetry more accessible.
“People are finding, and have been for many years, all different kinds of ways to express themselves through poetry. I'm really supportive of that. I think making poetry accessible to a wider audience is so important. I think we need that in our lives. I don't think there's ever a time when we don't,” she said.
“We need all of those various ways of communicating with each other and bringing beauty and new ways of seeing things to each other. I think poetry can do that and I think things like Dial-a-Poem provide a great venue for all much wider range of people to enjoy poetry.”
Akiwenzie-Damm’s latest work—(Re)Generation: The Poetry of Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm—was published in August 2021. She is also working on a new collection that she says captures what she has been thinking about over the last year and a half throughout the pandemic.
“They're not necessarily at all directly pandemic related. It just gave me food for thought and I think in a lot of ways we were all experiencing such heightened feelings and experiences,” she said. “I also started working at U of T as an English professor teaching creative writing, Indigenous (literature) and oral traditions, and so I had a lot to think about in terms of being, you know, Indigenous faculty at a campus that has hardly any Indigenous people.”
“I needed an outlet to really think through and for me, poetry often serves that purpose for me. It gives me a way of working through things and trying to see things in different ways.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.