Blackout Poetry, With John Carroll

April 22, 2018

Weekly Inspiration: Literature

If you want to know just how inspired Michelle is by literature, look to her skin. Tattooed on her arm is a hot air balloon symbolic of writing and all things imaginative. Words lift us to new places and humans possess the unique ability to read those words, digest the messages we find, and apply them to our individual contexts of truth and existence. This concept continuously leaves Michelle in awe. She shares the history behind her love affair with literature and how that inspiration permeates through the different chapters of her life.

Unearthing the art of blackout poetry with John Carroll of Make Blackout Poetry

Blackout poet John Carroll joins us on The Cultured Podcast to chat about the art of redaction. What John describes as “part word search, part art project” began as a writing experiment during a dark chapter of his life. His blackout journey started as an anonymous experiment veiled by the name Make Blackout Poetry. That experiment has now catapulted John to the forefront of a movement.

: “My mantra is simply be yourself”

: “It is perfectly possible for love to change the nature of man”

: “Love is in our future”

: “Art is necessity to ease your mind”

: “Evolve to the next level of love”

: “You must realize your truth”

Michelle and John dig into the poignant way the subconscious takes the lead in blackout poetry, and how messages of love and hope pulled John out of a spiraling depression. He shares how he challenged himself to create a blackout poem every day for two years. The result: John published 85 poems in his first book, Hidden Messages of Hope, and will publish his second book, Make Blackout Poetry, in September 2018.

Now, John does more than find positive affirmations in his poems, he shares the inspiration of his craft with others so they can do the same. With over 66,000 followers on Instagram, John has become the nucleus of a growing community of blackout poets and appreciators.