Concrete Poetry: A 21st-Century Anthology

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Concrete Poetry: A 21st-century Anthology is the first overview of concrete poetry in many years. Selective yet wide-ranging, this anthology re-evaluates the movement, singling out its most distinctive and influential works. Nancy Perloff, curator of an important Concrete Poetry exhibition at the Getty Research Institute, includes examples from the little-known Japanese concretists and the Wiener Gruppe groups that, together with the Brazilian poet Augusto de Campos and the Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay, have engaged with the most subtle possibilities of language itself while also incorporating key poems by Eugen Gomringer, Dieter Roth, Henri Chopin and others and including contemporary contributions by Cia Rinne and Susan Howe.

Perloffs anthology presents individual poems, reproduced in their original languages, together with lively commentaries that explicate and contextualise the work, allowing readers to discover the intricacy of poems that some have dismissed as simple, even trivial, texts. This substantial new collection redefines what the concrete poetry movement means today.

Reviews

'This new anthology is to be welcomed. It features a wide range of international poets who contributed to the movement, and displays prime examples of their poetic output in its original setting. Nancy Perloff offers personal commentaries on the individual poems, and provides a historical introduction which also conveys her belief in the enduring legacy of the movement.' - Stephen Bann CBE, Emeritus Professor of History of Art, University of Bristol, and editor of 'Concrete Poetry: An International Anthology' (1967) 'This wonderfully rich anthology reveals the experimentation and internationalism of concrete poetry and its continuing significance. Nancy Perloff's fresh selection, including the work of poets from Austria and Japan, offers scholarly insight alongside helpful notes to each poem.' - Andrew Nairne OBE, Director, Kettle's Yard, University of Cambridge 'Perloff's lively style and tone in this book help to give new life to old forms, conveying something of the sense of adventure felt among those of us still young enough to remember being part of this post-war cultural movement. Written in a highly accessible way, with a fine choice of accompanying poems, it's a book to generate new interest as well as to inform existing initiates.' - Hansjoerg Mayer, poet, typographer and publisher 'This groundbreaking book finally legitimizes one of the most important - yet most neglected - strains of contemporary poetic practice. By rigorously framing concrete poetry within a critical discourse, Nancy Perloff forcefully positions concrete poetry as essential to understanding our digital world. More than a mere history or a survey, Concrete Poetry's landmark achievement signifies an essential reshuffling of the historical deck.' - Kenneth Goldsmith, University of Pennsylvania, founding editor of UbuWeb

Author Bio

Nancy Perloff is the curator of modern & contemporary collections at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. She is the author or editor of many books, including Explodity: Sound, Image, and Word in Russian Futurist Book Art.