Blackout Poetry

As an English major with a Creative Writing concentration, I love to write poetry! When I was told about blackout poetry, I was extremely excited because it was a completely new way to look at something that I loved and it is really easy and fun to do. Blackout poetry is basically a new way of doing found poetry and you can do it with literally anything. You can use old newspapers, old books you might have laying around, or books in general (if you don't want to cut out a page you can always photocopy it). After you find a page that you want to work with, you start from the top and start circling words that you really like or that just stand out to you. Your goal is to create a poetic phrase that creates a specific image or idea. After you find your phrase, you "blackout" everything but the words that you circled. You can black out the rest of your page any way you want! You can use an actual black sharpie or you can get artistic and use water color paints or colored sharpies to create art that goes with the phrase that you circled. This is really fun to do with friends when you're watching a movie or just looking for something new to do! Below I have listed some of my favorite examples that I've found online. I recommend looking for some examples before you try it because it will just help get your creative juices flowing! But take a look at my list below and hopefully, it will help you! I hope you give blackout poetry a try after reading my article!

My Favorite Examples of Blackout Poetry:

1. Newspaper Example

I really like this example because it is simple and it is a great example of a phrase that is memorable and makes sense. That is your main goal when doing blackout poetry, that you create a phrase or image that makes sense! Blacking out the other words with just a black marker is one way to approach this.

2. The Globe Example

I like this example because it shows that you don't have to black out everything on the page besides the phrase that you circled. As long as you make it obvious what words are a part of your phrase, you can do whatever you want!

3. The Bride Example

I really like this example because it is in color and I love the placing of the words in the woman's wedding dress. Once again, this example shows that you don't have to blackout every word that isn't a part. I think it is just really cool looking and adds to the idea of this being found poetry.

4. Her Eyes Example

I like this example because the artist just used a black marker, but they were able to create an image that matches their chosen phrase.

5. The Heart House Example

This example is just awesome! You don't have to be an amazing artist to do this, but the more creative you are, the better your piece will turn out!

I hope you feel inspired to try blackout poetry after reading my article! Just have fun with it! There are no rules except making your chosen phrase obvious, so make it however you want! Good luck and have fun!