Call for Work: The Ghetto of Concretism

Forwarded from PR Primeau & Geof Huth:

In a recent blog entry, Ron Silliman mentioned "the ghetto of concretism" while speaking on the evolution of visual poetry over the past half-century. prPrimeau reacted to this idea by spending a few days examining mid-century concrete poetry, which led him to conceive the idea for a small anthology of retro concrete poetry. Geof Huth agreed to co-edit the book, and today we are excited to announce the first call for submissions for The Ghetto of Concretism.

For the purposes of this anthology, we are working with two working definitions of "concrete poetry":

Concrete poetry is a form of vispo typified by the manipulation of words and letters/numerals as they lie on the page, concrete poems rely on unconventional typographical presentations to convey their meanings. Concrete poets design their pieces using only letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and a fine eye for space.

In general, concrete poetry is a visually simple form of visual poetry in which the letter is the unit of composition. Words may (and usually do) exist, but it is the interplay of letters through those words & their shapes and reverberations that make these pieces work.

Send submissions to concreteghetto@gmail.com . Editors prefer unpublished work; submitting more than a single piece at a time is fine. If your work is not digital and you don't have a scanner, contact either for their snail mail addresses.

Comments

[Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino]

. Indeed, he would do well to be accurate in his quotes: "the ghetto of concretism." I have maintained for years the shift to the abstract in visual poetry. (I have been writing "abstract" poetry for twenty years, and there is plenty of it online, if you like, just Google "St. Thomasino" and click around.) But why this shift to the abstract? I have put forth an answer to this question in my addendum to the afterword to Nico Vassilakis at eratio (http://www.eratiopostmodernpoetry.com/nico_v_3.html). I still maintain that Mr. Silliman, with this assertion, is at basis positive and forward-looking. But what will become of the "concreteness" of the letter? The answer, I say, is in "eidetic poetry," because 1) the mind knows the word in the figure of its substance, and 2) only "in eidos" do words have the substantiality of things. See my essay, Logoclasody (http://www.eratiopostmodernpoetry.com/logoclasody.html). . Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino .

[Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino]

. "Concrete poetry is a form of vispo"? Isn't that like putting the cart before the horse? Or, is it not the case that "vispo" is -- if not "a form of" -- rather a branch, an outgrowth of concrete poetry? ("Form" and "branch" are not the same thing.) . Certainly, "vispo" has taken root. But that soil, that nourishment, this is the stuff of concrete poetry and of the history of "concrete poetry." . I could be wrong, but when Ron Silliman states "the ghetto of concrete poetry," it seems to me he is praising the newness, the innovations, the outgrowths, the potential-for-change of "vispo." . The "visual poet" would do well to learn by heart the lessons of concrete poetry (and indeed of the history of "concrete poetry"). . Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino .