The Last Vispo Anthology: Visual Poetry 1998-2008

Fantagraphics spotlights the intersection of art and language in this innovative new collection without peer in English that gathers the work of visual poets from around the world into one stunning volume. The alphabet is turned on its head and inside-out and the results culminate in a compilation of daring and surprising verbo-visual gems.

The Last Vispo Anthology is composed of vispo (a portmanteau of the words visual and poetry”) from the years 1998 to 2008, during a burst of creative activity fueled by file sharing and email, which made it possible for the vispo community to establish a more heightened and sophisticated dialogue with one another. The collection extends the dialectic between art and literature that began with ancient shaped text, medieval pattern poetry, and dada typography, pushing past the concrete poetics of the 1950s and the subsequent mail art movement of the 1980s to its current incarnation. Rather than settle into predictable, unchallenged patterns, this vibrant poetry seizes new tools to expand the body of work that inhabits the borderlands of visual art and poetic language.

The Last Vispo Anthology features 148 contributors from 23 countries on five continents. It includes 12 essays that illuminate the abundant history and the state of vispo today. The anthology offers a broad amalgam of long-time practitioners and poets new to visual poetry over the last decade, underscoring the longevity and the continued vitality of the art form.

Editors

Crag Hill

Editor and publisher of SCORE Magazine since 1983, I try to go where no one knows to go. The sun’s a heck of a place. Hope to see you there. Recent visual poems: http://tipchapknifebook.blogspot.com/2012/05/crag-hill.html

Nico Vassilakis

Nico Vassilakis is a multimedia artist, poet and writer. He was a curator for the Subtext Reading Series in Seattle. His visual poetry videos have been shown at festivals and exhibitions of innovative language arts. Vassilakis’ writings have appeared in numerous magazines, including: EOAGH, West Line Coast, Aufgabe, Rampike, Talisman, Thermos and Golden Handcuffs Review. His latest publications are TEXT LOSES TIME, staReduction – a vispo essay,Disparate Magnets, Protracted Type, a collection of visual poetry, and recently, West of Dodge.

The Contributors

Andrew Abbott (United States) – Fernando Aguiar (Portugal) – Sonja Ahlers (Canada) – Charles Alexander (United States) – Reed Altemus (United States) – mIEKAL aNd (United States) – Bruce Andrews & Dirk Rowntree (United States) – Jim Andrews (Canada) – Harmut Andryczuk (Germany) – Marcia Arrieta (United States) – Dmitry Babenko (Russia) – Petra Backonja (United States) – Gary Barwin (Canada) – Mike Basinski (United States) – Guy R Beining (United States) – Derek Beaulieu (Canada) – Marc Bell & Jason McLean (Canada) – C Mehrl Bennett (United States) – John M Bennett (United States) – Carla Bertola (Italy) – Julien Blaine (France) – Jaap Blonk (Holland) – Christian Bok (Canada) – Daniel f. Bradley (Canada) – Nancy Burr (United States) – John Byrum (United States) – J. M. Calleja (Spain) – Mike Cannell (United Kingdom) – David Baptiste Chirot (United States) – Peter Ciccariello (United States) – Jo Cook (Canada) – Judith Copithorne (Canada) – Holly Crawford (United States) – Maria Damon (United States) – Klaus Peter Dencker (Germany) – Brian Dettmer (United States) – Fabio Doctorovich (Argentina) – Bill DiMichele (United States) – Johanna Drucker (United States) – Amanda Earl (Canada) – Shayne Ehman (Canada) – Endwar (United States) – K. S. Ernst (United States) – Eva O Ettel (France) – Greg Evason (Canada) – Oded Ezer (Israel) – Jesse Ferguson (Canada) – Cesar Figueirdo (Portugal) – Luc Fierens (Belgium) – Peter Frank (United States) – Tim Gaze (Australia) – Angela Genusa (United States) – Marco Giovenale (Italy) – Jesse Glass (Japan)  – Robert Grenier (United States) – Bob Grumman (United States) – Ladislao Pablo Györi (Argentina) – Sharon Harris (Canada) – Scott Helmes (United States) – Crag Hill (United States) – Bill Howe (United States) – Geof Huth (United States) – Serkan Isin (Turkey) – Gareth Jenkins (Australia) – Michael Jacobson (United States) – Miguel Jiminez (Spain) – Karl Jirgens (Canada) – Alexander Jorgensen (China) – Chris Joseph (Canada) – Despina Kannaourou (United Kingdom) – Andreas Kahre (Canada) – Satu Kaikkonen (Finland) – Karl Kempton (United States) – Joseph Keppler (United States) – Roberto Keppler (Brazil) – Jukka-Pekka Kervinen (Finland) – Anatol Knotek (Austria) – Márton Koppány (Hungary) – Richard Kostelanetz (United States) – Gyorgy Kostritski (United States) – Dirk Krecker (Germany) – Edward Kulemin (Russia) – Paul Lambert (United States) – Jim Leftwich (United States) – The Lions (Canada) – Joel Lipman (United States) – Sveta Litvak (Russia) – Troy Lloyd (United States) – damian lopes (Canada) – Carlos M Luis (United States) – Donato Mancini (Canada) – Chris Mann (United States) – Bill Marsh (United States) – Kaz Maslanka (United States) – Robert Mittenthal (United States) – Gustave Morin (Canada) – Sheila Murphy (United States) – Keiichi Nakamura (Japan) – Stephen Nelson (United Kingdom) – Marko Niemi (Finland) – Rea Nikonova (Germany) – Jurgen Olbrich (Germany) – Christopher Olson (Canada) – David Ostrem (Canada) – mARK oWEns (United States) – Clemente Padin (Uruguay) – Michael Peters (United States) – Nick Piombino (United States) – Hugo Pontes (Brazil) – Ross Priddle (Canada) – e. k. rzepka (Canada) – Marilyn R. Rosenberg (United States) – Jenny Sampirisi (Canada) – Suzan Sari (Turkey) – R Saunders (United States) – Michael V. Smith and David Ellingsen (Canada) – Serge Segay (Germany) – Spencer Selby (United States) – Douglas Spangle (United States) – Litsa Spathi (Germany/Holland) – Pete Spence (Australia) – Matina L. Stamatakis (United States) – Carol Stetser (United States) – Ficus Strangulensis (United States) – Mark Sutherland (Canada) – Thomas Lowe Taylor (United States) – Miroljub Todorovic (Serbia) – Andrew Topel (United States) – Cecil Touchon (United States) – Aysegul Tozeren (Turkey) – e. g. vajda (United States) – Nico Vassilakis (United States) – John Vieira (United States) – Stephen Vincent (United States) – Alberto Vitacchio (Italy) – Cornelis Vleeskens (Australia) – Derya Vural (Turkey) – Ted Warnell (Canada) – Irving Weiss (United States) – Helen White (Belgium) – Tim Willette (United States) – Reid Wood (United States) – James Yeary (United States) – Karl Young (United States) – Mark Young (Australia)