found poetry…3
September 4, 2011
For the past two years, in honor of Poetry Month (April), The New York Times has run a student challenge to create a found poem with words and phrases from the newspaper. Click to see the 2010 challenge or the 2011 challenge. Links on each of the pages lead to the editors’ selections and related material. It’s not April, but why not follow the challenge rules now with The New York Times or your local paper?
The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a lesson plan for creating found poems by combining lines from Shakespeare and lines from hip-hop songs. The lesson plan is here, or go directly to the PDF handout here (Adobe Reader required).
In our last Found Poetry post we mentioned the Found Poetry Review, which is now inviting found poems on the subject of September 11. As possible source material for found text, the site offers a list of narratives related to the 9/11 attacks and a link to the 9/11 Commission report. In addition, current newspapers, magazines and online sources are filled with articles, letters and other reflections on the event and its aftermath that could be tapped for found poems.
