Concrete Poetry: A Form In Search of Its Selves

Abstract

In discussing concrete poetry, and my own work in this area, I do not wish to suggest that I am primarily a concrete poet—I am also a poet in the conventional sense, and have written plays, short stories and a novel: a number of other Australian concrete poets are similarly involved in other projects in writing and the arts generally. To make this account of my work more meaningful, I will touch on aspects of the concrete poetry scene in Australia, but, because of the prescribed limitations of this essay, it will not be possible for me to do more than this. The scene is large and fragmented, and since the beginning, there have been groups and individuals working in isolation.