Poetry (pen) Pals #13

Writing a blackout poem

Austin Kleon - blackout poetry aficionado

Hey,

How are you?

This week I’m writing to you about a poetry form I’ve wanted to try out for ages. I think I’m tempted by blackout poetry because deep down I’m still a hormonal fifteen year old creating collages in notebooks sat on a tiny square of bedroom floor surrounded by dirty clothes and crisp packets. And also, you know, the whole eclipse thing. It felt like the right time.

My first experience of blackout poetry (or actually to be accurate, erasure poetry) came via Instagram and the poet

Kate Baer

. Have you read any of Kate Baer’s poetry? Oh my goodness, it is so entirely relatable, fierce and powerful. Her poems are often short and appear simple but they are oh so clever.

Also known as erasure poetry, redacted poetry, a version of found poetry, I know blackout poetry has a much longer history than the last ten years but it feels like a form that was made for right now and social media.

Kate Baer’s second poetry book, ‘I hope this finds you well,’ is an entire collection of erasure poems which she created using comments from the internet and articles/speeches etc. from the media. I love how she plays with switching narratives. I’m in awe of the way she picks up hateful words and strips them down to expose their futility, to create something more positive. There are plenty of examples on her Instagram account.

Kate Baer, I hope this finds you well.

Notably, I also read an article in which Kate Baer described writing her first poetry collection (which I return to regularly btw - What Kind of Woman) sat in the car outside her house trying to find moments of peace away from her kids. I enjoy reading stories which share realities like this!

I’ve since fallen down rabbit holes of blackout poetry joy. And there are plenty to fall down on Instagram and Pinterest (like Make Blackout Poetry). Not only am I drawn to the slightly crafty option with blackout poetry but I’m intrigued by how one thing becomes another. How this form is transformational in character and also potentially transformational in terms of the discoveries to be made about yourself whilst creating. I’ve recently been trying to pay more attention to white space on the page when writing poetry, and space / word placement are most definitely considerations here. Plus, of course, it is playful, adventurous, there are so many possibilities to be explored.

Where to start then? Well this article shares some wonderful examples of blackout poems and gives decent guidance on how to get started.

Austin Kleon

has a whole blog dedicated to his blackout poetry if you need some inspiration. The History Of Blackout Poetry helped me to appreciate the difference between erasure and blackout poems (I realise that I am using the two terms fairly interchangeably on here, forgive me. Plus it has a page on the DIY movement with some good links for ideas). And finally on BookRiot I found some nice visual examples of different ways to create a blackout poem.

Isobel O’Hare, Erase the Patriarchy, from Barnes and Noble

But actually, I think you can start pretty easily with a black marker pen (or the like) and some old text you’re willing to repurpose. As simple as that.

I have even been mooting using pages from my old journaling notebooks?!

Your writing prompt for this week:

You’ve surely gathered by now, is to write a blackout or erasure poem.

We’ll need to re-think our sharing on Friday with this one, since we can’t share a photo in a comment. So watch this space. I’m thinking we’ll start a Chat thread or the like. But I’ll still send out an email either way, leave it with me.

In the meantime enjoy making words disappear,

Nelly x