Boredom liberates!

How I became and Erasure Poet.

It was in 2016 during a bored patch I decided to enroll in a creative writing class; Short Form: Writing Creative Nonfiction with Cara Benson. She shared this erasure poetry with the class, I sat up, leaned in, and the malaise lifted. I was on to a new adventure!

Erasure poetry, also called Blackout Poetry, is a creative writing technique where you take existing text and “erase” words to form new works.

Poet

Erin Dorney

identified six styles of erasure poetry: blackout; crossout, crossing out words to create a new poem; computer, using computer software to add or remove lines; cut out, using a knife to cut words out of paper; covered up, covering up the original text with another material (paper, sand, rice, etc.); and retyped, retyping the original text to make it look like a conventional, traditional poem, leaving space where the original text used to be.

I prefer to stylize with acrylic paint and find it thrilling to see words and art come together.

Creative expression is endless when working with this technique. One of my very favorites is A Humument by Tom Phillips.

I hope to share a new Erasure every month! Tag me if you are a fellow Erasure/Blackout Poet! I’d love to see and share your work!

Be well,
🌺 Tracey