Nottingham Trent University unveils dial-a-poem phone booth

The phone booth is outside Nottingham Trent University on Shakespeare Street

A heritage phone booth has opened as a place for passers-by to listen to poetry as part of a research project.

There are 63 contemporary poems available to listen to inside the kiosk outside Nottingham Trent University.

The project is exploring the relationship between the telephone and literature.

It also celebrates the life of the late poet and performance artist John Giorno, who founded dial-a-poem in the 1960s in New York.

The poetry phone booth is part of a wider project funded by a £175,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

The research looks at the role of communication and technology within contemporary cultures and communities.

The findings will culminate in a book about the relationship between language, technology, literature and the telephone.

'Listen across borders'

Dr Sarah Jackson, from the university's School of Arts and Humanities, said: "The installation of the K8 phone booth invites the public to engage with some of this research through a material object.

"Those who enter the booth will hear poetry read aloud by the authors and translators, and are invited to think about how we talk, text and listen across borders."

The phone booth has been placed on Shakespeare Street in Nottingham, outside the Bonington Gallery.

It was originally located at the university's Brackenhurst campus in Southwell but it was removed during redevelopment of the site.

It has since been painted in magenta pink - the colours of Nottingham Trent University.