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letter-avoiding poetry

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

Verse that intentionally omits one or more letters of the alphabet

Detailed Definition
Letter-avoiding poetry is a constrained writing technique where the poet deliberately omits one or more letters of the alphabet (e.g., lipograms), challenging linguistic creativity and drawing attention to absence as a compositional principle; such poems highlight the materiality of language and the ingenuity required to express meaning under formal limitation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Georges Perec’s novel “La Disparition” (and its poetic excerpts) omits the letter “e”; Ernest Vincent Wright’s “Gadsby” avoids “e” entirely, including in verse passages; Christian Bök’s “Eunoia” uses only one vowel per chapter, creating letter-avoiding poetry; A poem written without the letter “s” to challenge phonetic texture
Additional Notes
Letter-avoiding poetry (a form of constrained writing) deliberately omits specific letters (e.g., lipograms); challenges poets to innovate within limits and highlights the materiality of language—see Georges Perec’s “La Disparition.”
Also Known As
Lipogrammatic verse constrained omission poetry alphabetic exclusion poetry letterless composition Haplographic
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