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Blackout poem

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poem created by obscuring words in an existing text to reveal new meaning

Detailed Definition
A poetic form created by selectively obscuring or blacking out words in an existing text to reveal new meaning, with the visual element of redaction as important as the revealed words. Also called erasure poetry, this form gained popularity through Austin Kleon's newspaper blackout poetry. The technique combines visual art with poetry, as the pattern of obscured text contributes to the overall aesthetic effect and meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
Austin Kleon's newspaper poetry with words blacked out to reveal new poems; Taking a page from a book and obscuring text to create verse; Redacting a letter to discover hidden poetic meaning
Additional Notes
Also called "erasure poetry" or "found poetry." Legal considerations apply when using copyrighted source material. The visual element is as important as the textual content.
Also Known As
Erasure poem Found poetry Newspaper poetry Redaction art
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