Do you like to write poetry? Have you ever tried the art of blackout poetry? April is National Poetry Month, and the Baldwin Boettcher Library is celebrating by having a blackout poetry contest! To participate, just come inside the library and we will direct you to the poetry contest board. You can grab a page, read the directions, and get started. The deadline has been extended to the 20th to submit your poetic work of art. You will receive a small prize for participating while supplies last of course. At the end of the month the one with the most votes will win a cool writing journal. The winner could be YOU, so don’t hesitate to try! You can always take a page from an old book at home, create your artistic poem and then bring it by the 20th as well.
Here is a deeper description of blackout poetry:
It is when you take a written piece of text from a book, newspaper, or magazine and redact words, in order to come up with your very own 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 meaning from their starting block of text, using words to string together a new story from the initial one given.
One of my blackout poems from the past.