An Anthology of Concrete Poetry
by Emmett Williams (Editor)
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Description
First published by the legendary Something Else Press in 1967, An Anthology of Concrete Poetry was the first American anthology on the international movement of Concrete poetry. The movement itself began in the early 1950s, in Germany--through Eugen Gomringer, who borrowed the term "concrete" from the art of his mentor, Max Bill--and in Brazil, through the Noigandres group, which included the de Campos brothers and Decio Pignatari. Over the course of the 1960s it exploded across Europe, show more America and Japan, as other protagonists of the movement emerged, such as Dieter Roth, yvind Fahlstr m, Ernst Jandl, bpNichol, Mary Ellen Solt, Jackson Mac Low, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Bob Cobbing, Dom Sylvester Hou dard, Pierre Garnier, Henri Chopin, Brion Gysin and Kitasono Katue. By the late 1960s, poet Jonathan Williams could proclaim: "If there is such a thing as a worldwide movement in the art of poetry, Concrete is it." The work of the 77 writers collected in this anthology varies greatly in its aims and forms, but all can be said to emphasize the visual dimension of language, manipulating individual letters and minimal semantic units to produce poems that are for contemplating as much as for reading. Emmett Williams, the book's editor, added explanatory commentary for the poems and biographies of their authors, making this volume--long out of print--the definitive anthology of this movement, which has so influenced artists and writers of subsequent generations. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I've already made my love of Concrete Poetry & of Something Else Press abundantly clear elsewhere but I'll repeat myself anyway: one of my favorite forms of poetry, one of my favorite presses. An incredible body of work edited by one of its main practioners. Works in languages other than English presented in their original language & in translation (when 'possible') or otherwise explained. Just referring to the pieces here w/o showing examples is like describing the 'Mona Lisa' as "some woman" (or whatever).
Sadly, I rarely meet anyone anymore who even knows what concrete poetry is. How time flies, shit stinks, & people forget. Concrete Poetry is writing in wch the form of the text is as communicative as the words & letters of the text show more itself - if not more so. & this anthology was, according to the front cover, "the largest Anthology of Concrete Poetry to appear to date, and the first major one to be published in the United States."
If you like yr visual & textual stimulation intertwined cleverly into one gloriously compacted form, this is for you. If you have to watch "The X-Files" on tv 1st, uh, forget I mentioned it. There're over 300 selections in this monster from many people in many countries. This is one of the most international poetry comps you'll ever se.
H-L-E-U-A-
-A-L-L-J-H! show less
Sadly, I rarely meet anyone anymore who even knows what concrete poetry is. How time flies, shit stinks, & people forget. Concrete Poetry is writing in wch the form of the text is as communicative as the words & letters of the text show more itself - if not more so. & this anthology was, according to the front cover, "the largest Anthology of Concrete Poetry to appear to date, and the first major one to be published in the United States."
If you like yr visual & textual stimulation intertwined cleverly into one gloriously compacted form, this is for you. If you have to watch "The X-Files" on tv 1st, uh, forget I mentioned it. There're over 300 selections in this monster from many people in many countries. This is one of the most international poetry comps you'll ever se.
H-L-E-U-A-
-A-L-L-J-H! show less
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Poets play with language
35 works; 3 members
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- Genres
- Poetry, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 808.81 — Literature & rhetoric Literature, rhetoric & criticism Rhetoric and collections of literary texts from more than two literatures Literature Collections Collections of poetry
- LCC
- PN6110 .C77 .W5 — Language and Literature Literature (General) Literature (General) Collections of general literature German Poetry
- BISAC
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- 70
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.43)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
