1. April is National Poetry Month: Newspaper Blackout Poetry
The Erie Times-News give you news and information at your fingertips. With Newspaper Blackout Poetry, you can create art with just a marker!
What is Newspaper Blackout Poetry? In 2010, poet/cartoonist Austin Kleon, from Austin, Texas, popularized this art form by using his local newspaper. Finding intriguing words and phrases, Kleon grabbed a Sharpie to cross out words he didn’t need. When he was finished, he had an entire book of poems created by crossing out words in newspaper articles. To view Kleon’s work and learn more about the process, visit
This packet contains teacher resources to help you create Newspaper Blackout Poems with your students. The materials in this packet can be modified for students in any grade.
The Fine Print
Entries will be accepted from April 3 until 12 PM April 30. Contest is open to students in grades K-12 in Erie or Crawford counties. Article must come from the Erie Times-News. Send your poems to Newspaper Blackout, Attn: Abbey DiPlacido, 205 West 12 St., Erie, PA or drop off at the front desk. Electronic poems may be sent to Entry must include name, age, grade, school, and date of article publication.
Three winners will receive a copy of Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. One winner will be chosen from the following grade levels: K-3, 4-8, and The winning poems will be published in the Erie Times-News on May 7.
Questions or concerns? or call , Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 PM.

2. What Are Blackout Poems? by Ralph Heibutzki, Demand Media
Blackout poetry focuses on rearranging words to create a different meaning. Also known as newspaper blackout poetry, the author uses a permanent marker to cross out or eliminate whatever words or images he sees as unnecessary or irrelevant to the effect he's seeking to create. The central idea is to devise a completely new text from previously published words and images, which the reader is free to interpret as he or she wishes.
Origins
Blackout poetry is identified as the brainchild of author, cartoonist and web designer Austin Kleon, who hit on the technique to overcome a severe case of writer's block. Working with discarded copies of "The New York Times," Kleon viewed the results as little more than an inspired writing exercise as he stated in a June 2010 interview with Austin University's student newspaper, "The Daily Texan." Popular response to the blackout poems that he posted on his blog led to the April 2010 release of his first book, "Newspaper Blackout," in which he further expounded on the style.
Definition
Blackout poets like Kleon search for striking words or images in daily newspapers, which they emphasize by crossing out the unneeded text with a permanent marker, according to guidelines posted on the Newspaper Blackout website. For best results, it's not necessary to read entire articles before you cross out words since the idea is to create a completely new work. The resulting poem can be read from left to right or from top to bottom, which opens up new interpretations for the reader.
Techniques
To maximize the effect of a blackout poem, Kleon recommends finding one or two "anchor words" – or a combination of phrases – in the newspaper article that you're using. The effect, as Kleon informed "The Austin Chronicle" in April 2010, is similar to revealing a hidden message through a crossword puzzle or word search. Poets can also draw lines to lead readers from one phrase to another, or focus the eye on a particularly striking image, according to the Art Studio's website. The rules are only as limited as the poet's imagination.
Considerations
As Kleon has acknowledged, poets have been rearranging words since the Dadaist and Surrealist movements of the 1920s. During the 1950s, Beat writers and poets like William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin literally cut up existing texts, such as newspaper articles, with scissors. Unlike these approaches, however, blackout poets are built around short pieces of text, which the creator uses to build a mood or create a specific effect.

3. Examples of Blackout Poems
(First row: Poems by Austin Kleon
Second row: Student winners)

4. Blackout Poetry Writing Reflection Questions
Name: _________________________________________________ Date: ___________________
Blackout Poetry Writing Reflection Questions
1. What does it mean to you when you black out an article for a poem?
2. What kinds of words did you keep? Are they similar? Different?
3. What feelings do these words make you think about?
4. What kind of images do you immediately think of?
5. What kinds of questions did you ask yourself about the text during the blackout process? How do these questions help you think about the story?