April is National Poetry Month! Experience Blackout Poetry!

What is Blackout Poetry? 

Blackout poetry is the creation of a new, original poem by taking a page of text and blacking out or erasing most of the words and phrases of the original text. The words left will make a new poem. Blackout poetry is also called “found poetry.”

How to Write Blackout Poetry

Find a page of text, such as a newspaper article, an old book, or a magazine.

Skim the page of text or passage you have chosen and look for interesting words. See if you notice a theme or topic.

Underline or circle the word(s) or phrase(s) you wish to keep before blacking out anything.

Black out the rest of the words on the page. 

More Ideas 

Use a different color or a different material. Use a purple crayon to black out the words you don’t want. Or use a gold pen. 

Draw a picture. Before blacking out the words, draw an image over the words. When you color in the illustration, keep the words you want and blackout (or block color) the rest of the text around the illustration. 

Congratulations! You’ve made a blackout poem!

You can also create your own blackout poetry online on the New York Times website!

Unreadable: Podcast Transcript - April 2024

In our April episode of Unreadable, Ross speaks with Benjamin Herold about his book Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs, which follows five families in different areas of the United States, including Gwinnett County, and examines their experiences living in suburbia and their experiences with suburban school systems. 

Benjamin Herold is a education journalist, who has reported for Education Week, PBS NewsHour, NPR, the Hechinger Report, Huffington Post, and the Public School Notebook. He has a master's degree in urban education from Temple University in Philadelphia, where he lives with his family.

Join us for an author talk with Benjamin Herold at the Sharon Forks Library on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 11:00 AM.

Staff Picks for Poetry Month: 25 Golden Words Vol 1: Inspirational Poems for Wisdom and Freedom by Kudo Eresia-Eke

 

The Right Decision

When you have made the right decision

In spite of ego

In spite of self

A peace descends

And a joy dances

In your heart. 

From 25 Golden Words Vol 1 by Kudo Eresia-Eke

Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke is an inspirational writer, teacher, and lyrical performance artist from Nigeria. Over the last few years, Sharon Forks library staff and patrons have gotten to know him better as Kudo, the friendly, soft-spoken, and contemplative poet who visits the library regularly to compose poetry.

Dr. Eresia-Eke’s poetry collection, 25 Golden Words Vol 1 was released in 2022 and his latest collection of poetry 25 Golden Words Vol 2 was released as an eBook this month. Both collections are filled with inspiring poems of precisely twenty-five words. While most of the poems have spiritual themes, others focus on everyday matters.