CONTACT WITH POETS

transcend transcribe transfigure transform transgress: contemporary
concrete poetry by women
if poetry is going to reclaim even a shred of relevancy for a
contemporary audience then poets must become competitive
for their readership and viewership as graphic design advertising
and contemporary design culture expands to redefine
and rewrite how we understand communication poetry has
become ruefully ensconced in the traditional if as brion
gysin argued writing is fifty years behind painting then poetry
is even further behind contemporary design the vast majority
of poets are trapped in the 20th (if not the 19th) century
hopelessly reiterating tired tropes mcdonalds golden arches
the nike swoosh and the apple logo best represent the contemporary
descendants of the modernist poem poet lew
welch famously wrote raids ubiquitous advertising slogan raid
kills bugs dead as a copywriter at advertising firm foote cone
and belding in 1966 los angeles-based poet vanessa place
argues that
today we are of an age that understands corporations
are people too and poetry is the stuff of placards. or
vice versa.
the stuff of poetry—craftsmanship and handiwork—as opposed to
the industry of advertising and business relegates poetry to a
role out of touch with the driving economies of the culture
advertisers and graphic designers use the fragments of language
to fully realize emotional social and political means—and
in doing so have left poets with only the most rudimentary
tools in doing the same concrete poetry—the 20th centurys
first truly international poetic form—was founded in the late
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