A Writer's Guide to Multimodal Poetry

Bringing together poets, visual artists and professionals editing and publishing within the genre, this collection showcases the craft, practices and influences of those creating multimodal poetry today. Pairing examples and discussions of writers’ work with craft essays by them and exercises to help writers develop their own ways of combining poetry with multimedia, A Maker's Guide to Multimodal Poetry is both a catalyst for creativity and a practical guide to exploring the vast potential of multimodal literature. Beyond describing the tools and composition processes used to create their works, from how to blend different mediums, synthesize text and visuals, experiment with sound and rhythm, and embrace interactivity, poets, artists and students also outline the literary and aesthetic concepts that helped them traverse disciplines from visual arts and digital media to performance art. With exploration of a broad range of forms and methods, the essays discuss audio-modality, image-text hybrids, erasure, musical poetry and musical influence, alphanumeric translations, lyrical improvisation, neo-concrete poetry, using the archive and found poetry, mythic imaginings and the use of tactile experience. Offering a roadmap for navigating uncharted creative frontiers, this book defines the field of multimodal poetics whilst sparking a plethora of new ideas and approaches to poetry making.