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The Crown of Venom: Concrete Poetry Sonnet Collabs by Christian Bok & Gregory Betts (Canada)

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Concrete sonnet collab by Christian Bok (Alberta, Canada)  & Gregory Betts ( Ontario, Canada).  (Photo courtesy of Christian Bok) New Concrete Poetry blog readers are no doubt aware I have a special interest in vispo and concrete experiments with the sonnet, which you can explore at your leisure in the blog archive.  Canadian visual poet Christian Bok recently collaborated with Gregory Betts to create an impressive new concrete poetry version of a piece from a crown of sonnets by Bok entitled, The Crown of Venom.  Traditionally, a crown is a series of seven intertwined sonnets using repeated lines, rhymes, and themes.  The colorful work above - "The Crown #1" - is the piece Gregory Betts created as a response to Bok's sonnet cycle. ________________ "In an explanation of the collab, Christian Bok writes, 'The Crown #1' by Gregory Betts uses colors to visualize all the syllables that rhyme in the first sonnet from my series, The Crown of Venom." ____...
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Concrete Poetry Lost Classic: "4 plus 3" by Karl Kempton (Post Neo, Australia)

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  From  4 plus 3  by Karl Kempton (California, USA)  published  by Pete Spence in 1988 at Post Neo (Victoria, Australia)  Image courtesy of the New Concrete Archive Karl Kempton's 4 + 3 in Pete Spence's Post Neo Edition by De Villo Sloan Australian poet and publisher Pete Spence sent me this wonderful gift of a concrete poetry classic by Karl Kempton published by Post Neo in 1988. I am not exaggerating when I write Karl Kempton (based in California, USA) is one of the most widely recognized and praised concrete poets in the world today and has been for decades. Pete Spence’s edition of 4 plus 3 is a gathering of four poetic sequences by Kempton composed during a time of extraordinary creativity for the poet: 4 prism poems, 1984 Prism Poem 3, TO TIE A KNOT, 1982 THE WAIT/WEIGHT OF INSPIRATION, 1984 (for Loris Essary & Dan Raphael) THE UNKNOWN OCEANO OCTAVE, 1987 Cover of  4 plus 3 by Karl Kempton  published  by Pete Spence...
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New Concrete Poetry (Neo-Concrete Poetry) by Angela Caporaso (Italy)

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  Mail art visual poetry by Angela Caporaso (Caserta, Italy) (July 2025) (Photo courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archives) Visual poetry and mail art go well together among friends. I want to extend my deepest thanks to Angela Caporaso in Caserta, Italy, for sending me this fabulous piece via snail mail. With the cost of postage and other challenges, a piece of genuine mail art today is a luxury and privilege. I certainly feel this way about Angela's missive.  Angela creates a distinct blend of asemic writing, concrete poetry, and visual poetry. I reviewed her book Wars on AF2.    https://asemicfront2.blogspot.com/2024/07/asemic-front-2-review-wars-by-angela.html?spref=tw I appreciate her concretism as well as her ability to create larger structures, which I explain in-depth in the review of Wars. Now I have another amazing vispo structure to ponder and enjoy. - De Villo Sloan July 8, 2025 Elbridge, New York, USA
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Text-Centric Concrete Pattern & Shape Poetry by Patrick Plyter Hartigan (USA) & Mike Ferguson (UK)

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By Patrick Plyter Hartigan (Portland, Oregon, USA) (November 2021)  (Image courtesy of the poet) Constrained Concrete:  Text-Centric Visual Poetry  by  Patrick Plyter Hartigan  & Mike Ferguson Patrick Plyter Hartigan and Mike Ferguson are two poets associated with the New Concrete Poetry who share poetic sensibilities.  Both their styles are grounded firmly in the "old" concrete. In a time when many visual poets - sometimes me - use the old modes to create undecipherable asemics or leave linguistic meaning behind altogether to create abstract art with typewriters, Playter Hartigan and Ferguson remain, steadfastly, text-centered.  "Classic Concrete" Poetry seeks balance and harmony between form and content. Modernity has challenged this notion and created new avenues. John Hollander's poem "Swan and Shadow" is a textbook example of this Classical golden ideal of concrete poetry.  In the poem above by Plyter Hartigan, we see a deeply intimate, a...
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New Concrete Poetry Gallery: Selected Recent Concrete Poetry by Frank Singelton (Buffalo, New York, USA)

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"Set point" by Frank Singelton (Buffalo, New York, USA)   (June 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist) "Misty meadow" by Frank Singelton (June 2025) (Image courtesy of the artist) "Diamond harmony" by Frank Singelton   (April 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist) "Diamondly" by Frank Singelton   (June 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist) "The history of architecture" by Frank Singelton   (June 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist)   "Untitled" by Frank Singelton   (March 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist) "Upper Lower Together" by Frank Singelton   (March 2025)  (Image courtesy of the artist)
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Attack of the Glitchtards: A Review of "Analog Glitch" by Lova Delis (Anhinga Press Visual Poetry Series)

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Cover of  Analog Glitch  by Lova Delis (Ohio, USA)  (Photo courtesy of Asemic Front Archives) Review:  Analog Glitch by Lova Delis (Curated by Kristine Snodgrass) Tallahassee, Florida, USA:  Anhinga Press Visual Poetry Series 10 X 7 inches, 58 pages Review by De Villo Sloan "For the bad bitch in us all..." - Lova Delis,  Analog Glitc h intro Asemic Front 2  readers sometimes ask why I only "publish good reviews."  Indeed, I like to accentuate the positive and share my enthusiasm for innovative and creative work that crosses my path. Amazing things are happening in the visual poetry and asemic communities. But sometimes I see things so egregious, poorly conceived and financially and spiritually bankrupt that I am compelled to break the silence. The fledgling Anhinga Press Visual Poetry Series has churned out a half dozen, expensively produced and weighty tomes with little to no promotion. Each new release, in the estimation of this reviewer, grows ...
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"The Spectacle" & Other New Vispo by Nick Piombino (New York City)

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"The Spectacle" by Nick Piombino (New York City)  (June 2025)  (Photo courtesy of the artist) "Pop-Up" by Nick Piombino  (June 2025)  (Photo courtesy of the artist) "What?" by Nick Piombino  (June 2025)  (Photo courtesy of the artist) "RA" by Nick Piombino  (June 2025)  (Photo courtesy of the artist) "Go" by Nick Piombino (New York City, USA)  (June 2025) (Photo courtesy of the artist) "$5" by Nick Piombino  (June 2025)  (Photo courtesy of the artist)
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