On Popup Poetry

Abstract

The instructions for Pop-Up Poetry are simple. Someone sits opposite a poet at a typewriter, and the poet says, “Give me a word. We’ll talk a bit, I’ll write a poem about it, and you will have the only copy of the poem in the world.” These instructions, however, open up much more than their simplicity implies. I now see Pop-Up as its own form of poetry, distinct in style and concept, blending the individual poet’s private focus on the poem-generating word with the public performance of typing it out. The resulting poem’s often surprising meaning is found through the creative connection between the poet and the person for whom the poem was written.