Blackout Poetry – A Creative Look at a Written Page

All poetry is NOT created equal. Blackout poetry is a modern take on free verse. It requires you to find a newspaper article to enlarge or a page from a printed book that you slice free to use its words in a new way. Below are basic directions and two samples. Look for motivation on Pinterest, then dive in. It’s a challenge as well as a fun activity.

Instructions for Blackout Poetry**

1. Scan article or page for anchor words – words that jump out at you or words you know you would like to use in your poem
2. Underline the words you would like to use with pencil
3. Find and underline any connecting words
4. Black out all of the words not being used
5. Be sure that you have at least 4 words on the page.

**Created by jdrowellclass.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/blackout-poetry-directions

Here are two examples to get you started

Imagines by Kevin Harrell   (1) July 9. 2012    (2) August 25, 2017  He calls this form of poetry “creative destruction”  Find him at www.blackoutpoetry.net