Visual Poetry

Visual or Concrete Poetry

Due to share with the class by the beginning of the period Wednesday/Thursday April 12th/13th

Today's assignment is to explore the examples on the sites below and create a visual poem modeled after one or more.

You may use this technique to enhance your poetry handbook, but to fulfill the required number of poems you must use the traditional word-based variety.

Is this poetry? How about this, this or this? They're all examples of visual or concrete poetry, which has a long history. The modern version grew out of Lettrisme and helped give birth to the worldwide mail art movement. Two leading visual poets, Uruguayan activist Clemente Padin and Argentinian Edgardo Vigo, both had serious run-ins with dictators during the 1970s. The huge Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry (choose browse collection by images) puts gem after gem at your fingertips. Another great collection: Brazilian Visual Poetry.