Attention Span 2009 – Jessica Smith

derek beaulieu, ed. | Speechless | 2009

This new magazine of visual poetry features an all-women first issue.

Norman Fischer | Charlotte’s Way | TinFish Press | 2008

Helen White, ed. | Infusoria: an exhibition of visual poetry by women from three continents | krikri | 2009

A DVD showing pieces from the 2009 exhibit Helen curated in Belgium, featuring work from 17 female visual poets.

Jeff Encke | Most Wanted | Last Tangoes | 2004

A deck of cards, each of which is illustrated and imprinted with a poem.  Fun to play with and/or read.

Alec Finlay | Mesostic Tea | Slack Buddha Press | 2009

The mesostic, John Cage’s now-neglected form, finds a home in Alec’s guide to tea. I’m not just glad to see the mesostic being used when it seems everyone is keen to write sestinas and pantoums—I like the tension between the Chinese tea names (which comprise the mesostics) and the English descriptions (which run horizontally). The cup ring that decorates the cover is a nice touch, echoing Cage’s stain artwork.

Friedrich Kerksieck | Matchbook | Small Fires Press | 2009

A tiny matchbook-sized magazine, enclosed in an actual matchbook, now on its second issue, featuring poems from a wide aesthetic range and scratch-and-sniff stickers.

Jordi Boldo + Roman Lujan | Aspa Viento | 2003

A beautiful edition featuring Lujan’s artwork and pictures of visual poetry printed on rocks.

kathryn l. pringle | RIGHT NEW BIOLOGY | Factory School / Heretical Texts | 2009

Factory School’s Heretical Texts series is completely trustworthy—every book they publish is a hit. Thus RIGHT NEW BIOLOGY is representative of a larger body of work—the editorial selection that comprises FS’s total run.

Jennifer Scappettone | From Dame Quickly | Litmus | 2009

Litmus did a beautiful job of translating Scappettone’s colorful visual poetry to the mass-produced page.

Sandra Beasley | Theories of Falling | Western Michigan University | 2008

The most traditionally lyric of this group, Sandra’s autobiographical/narrative poems stick with me. There’s still room to say something new in poetry.

More Jessica Smith here.