Concrete Poetry Lost Classic: "4 plus 3" by Karl Kempton (Post Neo, Australia)
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
From the mid-20th century to the present, concrete
poetry has enjoyed peaks and valleys of popularity and cultural acceptance. Currently,
concrete poetry (now in a polyamorous relationship with visual poetry, asemic
writing, and digital poetics) is enjoying a renaissance.
Exciting new concrete forms and theories are evolving daily in
the ether. So are the inevitable “unforeseen consequences” in what appears to
be a fledgling global literary movement: Many serious concrete poets are
returning to the use of resurrected, ancient typewriters, suggesting – but I do
not believe fully representing – a Luddite turn in poetic industry. Stunning
new work is being created on typewriters that had been relegated to thrift
stores and curbside garbage heaps.
Jack Kerouac was praised as “a great typer” rather than as a
great writer. Karl Kempton deserves the top typer spot (without irony). I am thrilled to be able to share selected typographic
wonders from 4 plus 3 carefully printed and expertly structured in the first
edition.
For the poems in 4 plus 3, Kempton is working within the traditions of mid-20th century concrete poetry in terms of poetics and the means of production. As much as any artist or musician who masters a piano keyboard or a palette, Karl Kempton dazzles his audience with a show of spectacular talent. More subtle poetic triumphs are embedded in 4 plus 3 as well.
I was initially drawn to Karl Kempton's concrete poetry in the 1980s because he was an innovator as well as an individualist in the USA West who stood apart from the sometimes cookie-cutter concretism I thought I saw in The East (New York). 4 + 3 chronicles an exciting era in the history of visual/concrete poetry assembled by Pete Spence, now proving himself to be a visionary publisher.
In a time when concrete poetry is being altered by radical experimentation, sometimes beyond recognition, stepping back to contemplate what seems to have been a calmer, more reasoned age of "Classical Concrete" can be a source of energy, inspiration, and renewal.
- De Villo Sloan
July 10, 2025
Elbridge, New York
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