Blackout Poetry
We all know haikus, sonnets, and ironic poetry, but have you ever heard of Blackout Poetry? This art form, a part of the Erasure or Found Poetry art forms, is a beautiful way to revitalize old literature or signs and turn it into something new! Where did this poetry form come from, though? Well, let’s find out together!
What is Blackout Poetry?
Blackout Poetry is the name of any poem derived from blacking out any unwanted words from a paragraph, book, sign, etc., using whatever inking or coloring tools you have on hand. Anything with words can be turned into a blackout poem so long as the artist can block out the particular words they want by blacking out the others!
Blackout Poetry is based all around Found Poetry. Found Poetry is the art form of picking and choosing words that resonate with the artist’s vision. You can do Found Poetry by cutting words out of books or magazines and sticking them together, similar to a collage. Blackout Poetry is incredibly similar in style, but rather than cutting from all sorts of literature; blackout poetry focuses on what can be created from a single page of text.
With this in mind, blackout poetry may seem relatively easy to recreate. That is, if you blackout words without genuinely considering their meaning or purpose.
History of Blackout Poetry
Found poetry and Erasure may have been the basis of blackout poetry, but a creative young man fully realized and popularized it! Austin Kleon, a Texas-based writer, found that there was a different way of reading passages than what others were used to. So he started to pick words from a daily newspaper and black out the ones he didn’t like with a marker. He published a book called Newspaper Blackout Poetry, including his blackout poems.
However, according to him, the technique was invented and used by poets hundreds of years ago, sometime during the 18th Century. In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin’s neighbor did similar work using newspaper columns. He read across the narrow columns and found some great puns that he eventually published. Since then, other poets across the world have created blackout poetry.
Purpose of Blackout Poetry
The purpose of Blackout Poetry is to draw a new meaning from something initially made by another mind. Many blackout poets try to derive almost an opposite sense from their starting block of text, using words to string together a new story from the initial one given.
There are many ways to decide which words are most useful within a blackout poem. Focus on how they can relate to the other words chosen beforehand– and remember that the first-word choice is always the most important as it can set the stage for how the rest of the poem falls together!
Examples of Blackout Poetry
There are many famous examples of blackout poetry. Out of all, Peter Knight’s project “Heart of Darkness” Blackout features various beautiful poems made from book pages of “Heart of Darkness,” which details evilness in man’s heart. Below is an example of one of his blackout poems from the project:
Some other lovely blackout poems include:
How to Make Blackout Poetry
Reading blackout poetry is fun, but creating it is fulfilling and engaging. You can study many techniques, but we’ll focus on the one that is easiest to pick up and apply! Creating your blackout poetry is a fun way to flex your creativity within the confines of a single passage.
To start your first blackout poem, you’ll need a page of text, a pencil or a black marker, and an understanding of what you want to write! Then, you can dive in.
- The first thing you have to do is decide on a text you’ll like to work with. Many modern blackout poets use articles found online, but you can also use old books, other poems, newspapers, and magazines– whatever you find that features words, you can blackout!
- Look over the chosen text for words that relate to the poem you wish to create! Depending on your selected text, this can be relatively simple or more difficult, so don’t sweat taking your time!
- Circle your chosen words BEFORE blacking out the rest of the passage. Do this with a pencil or with the marker you are using to black out the quotes. It keeps everything neat and permits you to edit your poem before you reach the point of no return.
- Create your poem! Before blacking out anything, do one final read-through. Read it aloud and backward until you feel pleased with the result!
- Finally, it’s time for the art! Take your chosen blacking-out marker or pen and black out all the words that are not your selected words. You can black out the words in any way you wish– many blackout poets do artful squiggles or make designs with the ink. It is the best time to let your imagination flow.
- And when the ink dries, your poem is done!
How Can Children Make Blackout Poetry
There is an even more straightforward way to teach your children how to create their blackout poetry! Follow the rules below to teach a lesson about making blackout poetry!
- A lesson about making blackout poetry should come AFTER you show your students some examples of blackout poems! Then, they can learn the easiest by following these examples.
- Choose some passages that may interest them. Although YA novels like Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or more can be used, be sure that no actual books your students like are ruined!
- Allow your students to choose their favorite passage and comb through some words to get inspired.
- Once they pick out their favorite words and themes, have your students circle the words and read them out one at a time to see if they like how they sound! Do this until everyone is satisfied
- Let them black out the page. They will have to blacken the unnecessary words with a pencil or a marker. Feel free to use colorful tags for this project as well!
- You can go the extra mile and ask them to create an image that fits with the poem, paint or illustrate the page. You could also add an original title and underline the poem’s theme.
- Let them be proud of their work and display the poems on the wall or encourage kids to read them in front of the class!
What You Can Make
Your blackout poetry can create various themes, ideas, and results! For example, many blackout poems that focus on politics can be used to change one’s mind about a particular political movement. In addition, blackout poems that use distinct books can change the book’s overall point!
Your blackout poems can be used to change the original texts’ meaning or as decor. Many blackout poems can be framed, especially if the blacking out is done artfully!
Blackout poetry is a beautiful way to make something new out of something old and perhaps dark or cruel. It is a reshaping of one art form to another and should be used as a teachable moment for students to learn that there can be methods to madness!
