In The New York Times: E. Kristin Anderson 鈥�05 on finding your voice in another鈥檚 words
Writer and poet E. Kristin Anderson 鈥�05 is finding original poetry hiding in the pages of her newspapers, and she鈥檚 encouraging others to do the same.
In a recent article in , Anderson shares an original blackout erasure poem she wrote and gives readers step-by-step instructions for creating their own.
鈥淐reativity can be healing in difficult times, but it鈥檚 not always easy to tap into those creative juices. Sometimes you鈥檙e just too overwhelmed and exhausted to write or create. In those times, turning to found poetry鈥攁 style of poetry in which you write something new using only what you can find in an existing text 鈥� can help,鈥� she wrote.
鈥淚n an erasure, you can only use the words that appear in the article you鈥檝e chosen, and you have to use them in the order they appear. How you erase the words around your poem is up to you,鈥� she added.
Anderson鈥檚 own poem was written鈥攐r erased, as the case may be鈥攗sing a Jan. 10 New York Times article, 鈥� by photographer Marcus Westberg.
鈥淲hile Mr. Westberg鈥檚 article is about pandemic travel in Sweden, the poem is about the elusiveness of new beginnings,鈥� she wrote.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that your voice speaks in your poem, and not that of the original writer鈥攁n erasure poem shouldn鈥檛 summarize the material it鈥檚 created from. It should say something new.鈥�
