Blackout Poetry is the process by which one views an existing text, then blocks out parts of words, lines, or paragraphs, selecting the phrases and words they want in a new construction of meaning. It is both a cathartic experience of creative making as well as an exciting form of scavenging for possible meanings. 

We invite you to select one of the hyperlinked texts to create your own Blackout Poem. Strike out parts of the text as you please, the words that remain will be your very own Blackout Poem. Spend as much or as little time as you would like to create your poem. Perhaps your recreation acknowledges or responds to the original meaning or sentiments or maybe your recreation diverges from the given text entirely. Have fun with it! 

How to participate

1. Choose a text 
   TEXT A        TEXT B      TEXT C       TEXT D        TEXT E       TEXT F
2. Scan the text 
3. If on a desktop or a mobile phone, take a screenshot of a passage you wish to use for your poem. You are free to print out your text and work manually. 
4. Choose the words you wish to keep 
5. Strike out the remaining words. As you are striking out the remaining words, feel free to add in drawings and patterns in your strokes. 
6. Save your Blackout Poem (or scan it) and email to blackoutpoetry@osu.edu by 12:59 PM on April 1st

Blackout Poetry is led by Noor Murteza (AAEP), Will Nickley (Design), and Madison Sabatelli (Design) with support from Urban Arts Space’s Hybrid Arts Lab, a multi-venue learning lab that experiments with how art is imagined, made, viewed and understood. 

An online exhibition of selected poems will be on view April 19-May 16, 2021 on UAS online.