Books Into Words – Book Spine Poetry
By Maria Meryl Borinaga
Poems – words assembled in an artistic way that conveys the emotions and thoughts of the writer. With every line and word, it has the capacity to move the reader to tears, laughter, joy, fear, sadness; it can describe a place or an event as if you are really seeing it with your eyes; it takes a powerful command of words to turn it into pictures, rhythm of words into music, and lines into sentiments. It is also one of the oldest forms of literature that survived the changing times.
Before, poems are written using pen and paper – then as time went on, typed into computers. But the most recent trend in the world of poetry is the Book Spine Poetry – where you literally turn books into words and transform it into a new form of literature.
The idea of book spine poetry began in 1993 with the American artist Nina Katchadourian. She has worked in various art forms such as sculpture, photography, videos, and sounds. Book spine poetry originated from her Sorted Books project. She started collecting books and arranged it into clusters so that the spines can form and be read as a sentence. Then Maria Popova, a Bulgarian writer and blogger known for her blog brainpickings.org, began adapting this idea and turned the spine sentences into poetry which soon spread and became known online.
How to Make Your Own book Spine Poetry
According to a blog by Tracy Ostwald-Kowald entitled “How to Turn Your Summer Reading List Into Book Spine Poetry”, this type of poem emerges from phrases and words already available in book titles compared to the traditional way of writing poems that starts from scratch. The idea is to use a person’s own collection of books and arrange it in groups until a poem is formed, then taking a picture of it to be posted online.
To make a book spine poem, take any books that you have: the ones that you own or borrowed. Focus on the titles and not on the content because the poem that will be created can have an entirely different theme. After that, arrange the books into clusters that will now form your poem. The “poet” can also add props if necessary; it can add to the visual appeal and look of the “poem.”
Ostwald-Kowald also mentioned that book spine poetry can reflect the poet who created it. This is because the poem is taken from the books a person owns and reads. The good thing it does not have limitations: anyone can make book spine poems. Any book may be used no matter what the subject is about; it depends on the creativity of the poet to make something good about their books. Aside from that, it can also be an interactive hobby that can be done with friends and family unlike the traditional way of composing poems, which is best done in isolation or if done by the author unaided. So why not try composing your very own book spine poem: express your self – the modern way.
