What is the Poetic Phonotheque?
Essentially, the poetic phonotheque is an international audiovisual archive of poetry, designed to be available to the public digitally and physically in various headquarter bases, so as to provide easy access to culture and poetic entertainment wherever our audience might be. This is a contemporary archive of audio recordings, poetry films, intended to also serve as a platform to help us document the voices, ideas, languages and main concerns of our communities (the poetics of our current world) – while also helping us expand our network to promote the many cultural activities we each direct in our organizations.
The potential in this phonotheque is that it allows for individual, one-on-one interaction with poetry, as well as for a custom-made experience for large audiences both online and in real life. Additionally, it serves as a connection point amongst cultural organizers and provides opportunities for extensive co-promotion.
How does it work?
-One part of the phonotheque is the digital collection, which you will have access to, and which you can expand through your own community.
-One part of the phonotheque is physical: We encourage organizing poetry-gathering events, where guests can come and record their own voices, listen to poetry and interact with one another.
-One part is a poetry film festival: which takes place annually in the center of Copenhagen, and which you can also screen as an event in your city.
-One part is workshops, poetry talks and other events. Some of the participating organizations who’ve previously invited me to speak about the phonotheque include the University of Copenhagen for an Environmental writing class, the International Center of Audiovisual Archivists (for their Mexico conference in 2022), and various poetry festivals in Europe.
What benefits are there to the partners?
–Exclusive ambassador title in your city. Your organization becomes the base of the Poetic Phonotheque, receiving a page on its website, your logo on its videos, and access to its network to promote your own projects and events. This includes an identity package of logos, fonts, social media posts, audiograms and the drafting of press releases and posts to announce our collaboration.
–Your own campaign for collecting poetry internationally and locally. We can pick a theme that best suits your organization, and create an open call together. This includes posters, videos, social media posts… and the culmination can be an event, a publication, or another hybrid compilation depending on your goals, with the added incentive of all poetry remaining permanently in the collection.
–Documentation of your work: The Red Transmissions Podcast is an Art & Culture podcast where I interview cultural organizers, activists, authors and other creators and share their latest projects. We can draft a series of interviews to highlight your organization, main guests and other characters important to your festival or project.
–Access to Red Door Magazine as a partner organization. The magazine is released 4 times a year, in print and digitally, and you are welcome to have a permanent segment for your articles.
–Access to the archive which is both an audio collection and a video collection. This means that during the”time off” in your calendar, you can organize screenings of the phonotheque or listening parties, as well as encourage recording events for poets to add their voice to the collection. Customized selections of the phonotheque can be created for your festival.
-Tremella Radio: If you already have a podcast or radio show or would like to start one, I can help you set up your show on our radio station (which focuses on literature, sound art and community) and guide you so it also becomes a podcast on the web. There is a small yearly membership for all hosts/shows of 60 dollars, which covers station expenses.
*In the future, I also want to build physical prototypes of the phonotheque as traveling art objects we each have in our cities, where people can listen to poetry and add their own voices… but that’s not developed yet.
How can I become a partner?
A one time fee
1500 EU
That’s what it costs to cover the expenses of the recording plugins, domain, hosting, and maintenance of the Poetic Phonotheque’s huge archive online for 2 years. I take care of all the other work behind it voluntarily, and through other partnerships have 5 years of the archive covered, but invite you to help me ensure the archive remains online through this investment, which in exchange gives you unlimited access to all you saw listed above. It’s a one time fee, yes, because I am actively searching for various partners so that together we can secure the duration/stability of this project.
*Please keep in mind that this fee does not include the production costs of events or projects we come up with in the future, nor my speaking engagements, but already gives you access to a great archive, promotional material, the festival, network and promotional opportunities, while ensuring the phonotheque remains online for years to come.
Additional steps
I can provide you an agreement and invoice for the organization of your choosing and a welcome letter.
Afterwards, if you desire for the entire website to be translated, I can provide you the text of the website and add your language to the website.
I will also need text about your organization, photos, mission statement and links, to create your own page.
If you have additional questions or ideas please feel free to write
I am always looking for new collaborations and ideas, so if you have a vision of how we can customize and expand this concept together, please feel free to reach out to me.
Who is behind the Phonotheque?
My name is Elizabeth Torres. I am a Colombian/American multimedia artist, award-winning poet, and literary translator residing in Denmark, where I pursue an MFA in Performing Arts at Den Danske Scenekunstskole and direct Red Door Gallery, among other projects. I collect typewriters, adore books, and have spent my life traveling the world interacting with literary communities in over 35 countries.
I am the author of over 20 books of poetry, among them “Loteria: Sorteo Nocturno / Nocturnal Sweepstakes” which was recipient of the Ambroggio Prize in 2022 by the Academy of American Poets and will be released in the US in the Spring of 2023, and “Expediciones a la región furtiva”, which was selected by Valparaiso Ediciones to be released in the Spring of 2023 in Mexico, Colombia and Spain.
I am the director of Red Door Magazine, an arts publication I founded in NY in 2009, which is now also a gallery here in DK. I am also the founder of Tremella Radio and the Poetic Phonotheque, as well as of this project… and yes, I have a podcast, too. My artistic name is Madam Neverstop, and now you know why :).
Who are the partners?
Apart from myself, the current partnerships include:
Litteraturcentrum KVU / Kultivera in Tranås, (Sweden). Who are headquarters of the phonotheque, collaborate with the publication and distribution of the magazine, and direct Tranås at the Fringe Festival, all of these, projects in which we collaborate.
Islands Brygge Bibliotek in Copenhagen, (Denmark) which was the initiator of the Nature & Culture – International Poetry Film Festival here in Copenhagen, and who sporadically host exhibitions of the phonotheque in their cultural house.
Husets Biograf, Copenhagen, (Denmark) – The oldest (and most beautiful, if you ask me) independent cinema of the city, and current base for the film festival. We are also collaborating in the creation of the very first outsider bookfair of the city.
Coming up 2023: Bokens Hus (Finland) – The phonotheque’s headquarters in Turku, Finland, and co-organizers of the poetry week in that city, as well as many other projects in support of independent publishers. We’ve founded together the Nordic Aliance for Poetic Disobedience (Union for Performing Arts) and hope to begin mapping the Poetic Phonotheque from 2023.