Visitors to downtown State College will soon be able to enjoy a new attraction, a Telepoem Booth. Beginning April 14th at 7:00 pm, people exploring Webster's Bookstore in downtown State College will be able to enter the phone booth and dial up a recorded poem. The poems will be classic, modern, and curated from local poets, community members, and students.
After visiting Flagstaff, Arizona and discovering an interactive Telepoem Booth there, John Ziegler knew he had to bring one to State College.
“John enthusiastically brought this idea back from Flagstaff and, thanks to a grant from the Knight Foundation Donor-Advised Fund here at Centre Foundation, we’ll soon be able to enjoy a Telepoem Booth right here in Centre County,” said Molly Kunkel, Executive Director at Centre Foundation. “This booth will add another element of whimsical fun and art to downtown State College.”
John Ziegler spearheaded the effort along with Sarah Russell, Steve Deutsch, Katie Bode-Lang, and Mary McGuire. The team collected over 300 local poetry submissions, reviewed them, and coordinated the recordings of accepted poems by their respective poets.
“The Telepoem Booth is a unique way to bring poems to people’s daily lives,” noted Ziegler. “We will have classical and modern poems, as well as the work of our local poets – all available by dialing a rotary phone in an old-fashioned phone booth and hearing a poem read by a poet.”