Concrete Poetry

What is undoubtedly valuable about the book is the way that it carefully arranges, in a beautifully printed hardback, a selection of concrete poetry’s keystones. The first half of Perloff’s selection triangulates Brazil, Austria and Scotland through the work of three key figures: Augusto de Campos, Gerhard Rühm and Ian Hamilton Finlay. For the anglophone reader, she glosses the foreign words involved, prising apart the heavy punning that sparked the concrete imagination. * Jeremy Noel-Tod , TLS *
[Concrete Poetry is] an eclectic, global anthology of concrete poetry selected and annotated by Perloff, curator of modern and contemporary collections at the Getty Research Institute. -- Will Smith * The Bookseller: Paperback Previews *
This is an exciting and engaging summary of an important and still misunderstood field, the value of which lies in the intelligence and sensitivity of Perloff’s close readings. * Burlington Contemporary *
This is a handsome volume which radiates weightless calm and clarity. Perloff is at pains to encourage us to give the works in the book our full attention, to avoid hastily construing them as trivial word games, and she is absolutely right to do so. * Art Monthly *
Perloff’s new anthology presents a wide sampling of what is known as concrete poetry. Through the book's rich introduction to the nearly 200 color and black-and-white illustrations and the commentary below each, readers learn much about this postmodernist poetic genre. Perloff’s book grew out of her experience as an art curator, in particular a London exhibit she curated in 2017. The book reflects the international character of this art form . . . Chapters are devoted to the major practitioners, e.g., Augusto de Campos and Gerhard Rühm, and to various nations — Brazil, Austria, Japan, and Switzerland, among others. These poems are primarily understood as art objects in and by themselves, stripped of "meaning" and narrative or lyric impulse. As promised in the introduction, readers see "visually and sonically compelling" poems. . . . Recommended * Choice *
Most of the poems in Concrete Poetry fill a full page (and sometimes two). Under each is Perloff’s critical gloss, never more than a few sentences long, and often brilliant . . . These glosses by Perloff set a new higher standard for the critical reading of avant-garde poetry, whether concrete or visual. The two pioneering critics of avant-garde poetry, Dick Higgins and Bob Grumman, would have loved them, as do I. * Rain Taxi Review of Books *
Beautifully produced . . . Whether you leap in and buy it or consult a library copy I think its well worth your time. A book for poets, readers and art lovers. Your own formally composed verses, on the still white page, ought to be ruffled, alarmed, and if not fully converted, at least have the “look” of them excitingly challenged. * The High Window Review *
Nancy Perloff’s Concrete Poetry: A 21st-Century Anthology offers a present-day perspective on the concrete poetry movement of the 1950s through to the 1970s. The curator takes us back to that defining period, which most scholars identify as the heyday of concretism, with the aim of establishing a sort of "canon" of the most interesting and enduring contributors to the movement. Here is a body of work . . . which deserves a wider audience and greater critical attention. * Fortnightly Review *
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. * Hansjörg 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 *
While I sympathize with those inclined to mock concrete poetry’s pretensions, I found myself returning with pleasure to the book’s frequently full-color plates in the same way I would revisit the catalog of an intriguing art exhibit. In fact, by propping the book open and moving away until the words themselves begin to blur, it becomes obvious that the arrangement of the letters on the page is just as important as what they actually say . . . Instead of simply reprising ‘Concrete Poetry’s Greatest Hits,’ Perloff’s anthology covers a wide range of formal approaches and aesthetics, and we are introduced to work from throughout Europe and North America, as well as important poetry from Japan, and especially, Brazil, where the poets associated the Noigandres group, among other innovations, made poetry by 'pursuing an analogy between musical instruments and components of language.'" -- David Starkey * California Review of Books *