Liza Halley is the Library Teacher at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA
Two Roads Converged In the Yellow Woods: Poetry and Comics
As a reader of my column, you know by now I am obsessed with reading graphic novels and finding ways to connect comics to the classroom. What you might not know is that I set my alarm extra early every morning so I have time to write and read poetry. I am a person who is moved by the power of language. Since middle school, I have been writing and reading poetry, attending workshops, teaching poetry in my children’s schools, and, as a teacher librarian, working to connect students to poetry all throughout the school year. As I write this article we are in the waning days of National Poetry Month and I want to turn your attention to the convergence of poetry and comics.
As a reader of my column, you know by now I am obsessed with reading graphic novels and finding ways to connect comics to the classroom. What you might not know is that I set my alarm extra early every morning so I have time to write and read poetry. I am a person who is moved by the power of language. Since middle school, I have been writing and reading poetry, attending workshops, teaching poetry in my children’s schools, and, as a teacher librarian, working to connect students to poetry all throughout the school year. As I write this article we are in the waning days of National Poetry Month and I want to turn your attention to the convergence of poetry and comics.
You might be wondering, do comics feature poetry? The answer is a resounding yes! As you cast your eye on the medium seeking poetry, suddenly you will find that many renowned comic artists interpret full poems or use lines of poetry in their books as well as use poetic language as dialogue and narration in their comics. Here are some that come to mind: Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Endless Nights), Alan Moore (Swamp Thing), Mike Mignola (The Conqueror Worm in Hellboy an interpretation of Poe’s poem), Austin Kleon (Newspaper Blackout), Bianca Stone (Poetry Comics from the Book of Hours), David Morice (Poetry Comics), Alexander Rothman (online poetry comics). Paul K. Tunis, Alexander Rothman, Gary Sullivan, Bianca Stone founded a micro-press called Ink Brick; the sole focus of this zine is comics poetry.
Ivan Bruetti writes in his column Line Reading in The Paris Review:
In a poem, lines might form and fill a stanza, which literally means “room”; and so it is with comics, where panels could likewise be thought of as stanzas. Rows, columns, and/or stair-steps of panels, in turn, structure a page (or an entire story) of comics and give it its particular cadence. Even the simplest grid tattoos its rhythmic structure onto the page.
Let’s think for a moment about poetic devices: rhyme, rhythm, meter, enjambment, allegory, metaphor, consonance, assonance, euphony, cacophony. Comics offer a fascinating space to explore these devices in the typical poetic manner, but also in fresh, exciting ways by using visual expression. For instance, using images and words to show allegory or to express consonance. The language and color in a comic can create rhythm or cacophony. Comic artists also use the panel frames, speech bubbles, and the gutter to emphasize the poem’s shape, flow, sound, and meaning.
Let’s dive in to look at all this theory in action. I want to highlight Julian Peters because he has some amazing work that you can use in your classroom. Peters, a comic book artist and illustrator based in Montreal, published Poems to See By through Plough Publishing House in 2020. In it, he offers new ways to see 24 classic poems. His website offers a glimpse into some of the poems in the book, such as his interpretation of Robert Frost’s Birches. In Birches, Peters mostly interprets the poem with illustrations but at one point he writes a line of the poetry on a birch branch interweaving text and images to make powerful meaning. His art style changes dramatically with each poem he interprets. I see this book and website being used in the classroom to help students see poems in new ways and also to inspire students to try their hand at combining their own poems with images.
For the K-12 teacher, several comic adaptations of epic and famous poems exist and are highly regarded. Gareth Hinds has emerged as one of the premiere interpreters of classic poems into comic form; since 2007 Candlewick Publishing put out Hinds’s adaptation Beowulf, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Poe: Stories and Poems: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Eric Drooker interpreted Allen Ginsberg’s Howl in 2010. Beloved by many elementary students, First Second published Nursery Rhyme Comics, 50 popular nursery rhymes interpreted by well-known comic artists, including Roz Chast, Eleanor Davis, Nick Bruel, and Sara Varon. All of these interpretations could be used in the classroom in a range of ways; just to list a few ideas:
- use the adapted form in tandem with the original poem to help students understand the original,
- model interpreting poetry,
- create your own comic adaptation,
- support emerging English language learners’ acquisition and understanding, or
- prompt poetry writing with comics.
Coming at this topic from a completely different angle, you also find comic artists and teachers using comics to explain topics, including poetic terms and devices. David Rickert is one such person. As an educator, comic artist, and illustrator, David offers several cool tools for teachers using comics to explain poetry on his Teacher Pay Teachers Page. Irina Richards in AccessArt.org offers a step-by-step guide on how to adapt poems into poetry comics. This is a wonderful student-friendly resource for teachers.
Another highlight is Chrissy Williams, who is based in Britain. Williams is the author of Over the Line: an Introduction to Poetry Comics (2015), the first anthology of its kind that brings artists and poets together to create poetry comics. Williams has taught and collaborated with Poetry School, Poetry Society, and Poetry Library in Britain. She met with comic artists and poets in a pub for years every month to collaborate on poetry comics. While I encourage you to read her book, she published this fantastic poetry/comics digital booklet that can be used with students to create poetry comics.
Poetry comics is not new but still a narrow field within the world of comics. Not much of the current conversation is geared toward the K-12 crowd, especially the pre-sixth grade students. Yet I see an opportunity, some excitement around the possibilities of poetry comics and its connections to these students. By interpreting or creating poems, or developing an elasticity with language play through this combined medium, I hope it spurs excitement with your students. If this topic fascinates you as much as it does me, please do not hesitate to reach out to me to keep the conversation going.
Poetry Comics Book List
Craghead III, W. How to Be Everywhere. Poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire. 2007.
Duffy, Chris. Editor. Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics. First Second 2014.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl: A Graphic Novel. illus. by Eric Drooker. 224p. HarperPerennial. 2010.
HInds, Gareth. Beowulf. Candlewick. 2007.
Hinds, Gareth. The Iliad. Candlewick. 2019.
Hinds, Gareth. The Odyssey. Candlewick. 2010.
Hinds, Gareth. Poe: Stories and Poems, A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Candlewick 2017.
Lorca, Garcia Frederico. Canciones. Illustrated by Tobias Tak. NBM Graphic Novels. 2021.
Peters, Julian. Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. Plough Publishing House. 2020.
Poe, Edgar Allen. Gahan Wilson, Illustrator. The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allen Poe. Classics Illustrated. Papercutz. #4. 2009.
Further Reading Suggestions
Einspruch, Franklin. Ed. Comics as Poetry. foreword by William Corbett ; contributors: Kimball Anderson, Derik A. Badman, Warren Craghead, Julie Delporte, Oliver East, Franklin Einspruch, Jason Overby and Paul K. Tunis.New Modern Press. 2012.
Mullins, Nick. The Lost Cause of Poetry. Nijomu. 2019 (self published)
Valentine, Ryan M. Poetry Comix. Source Point Press. 2019.
Linthout, Theo and Willy Linthout. Years of the Elephant; translation, Michiel Horn ; poetry by Theo Linthout translated by Serge Baeken. Ponent Mon. 2009.
Goldstein, Bobbye S., Mother Goose on the Loose. illustrated with cartoons from The New Yorker. Harry N. Abrams Inc. 2003.
Another highlight is Chrissy Williams, who is based in Britain. Williams is the author of Over the Line: an Introduction to Poetry Comics (2015), the first anthology of its kind that brings artists and poets together to create poetry comics. Williams has taught and collaborated with Poetry School, Poetry Society, and Poetry Library in Britain. She met with comic artists and poets in a pub for years every month to collaborate on poetry comics. While I encourage you to read her book, she published this fantastic poetry/comics digital booklet that can be used with students to create poetry comics.
Poetry comics is not new but still a narrow field within the world of comics. Not much of the current conversation is geared toward the K-12 crowd, especially the pre-sixth grade students. Yet I see an opportunity, some excitement around the possibilities of poetry comics and its connections to these students. By interpreting or creating poems, or developing an elasticity with language play through this combined medium, I hope it spurs excitement with your students. If this topic fascinates you as much as it does me, please do not hesitate to reach out to me to keep the conversation going.
Poetry Comics Book List
Craghead III, W. How to Be Everywhere. Poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire. 2007.
Duffy, Chris. Editor. Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics. First Second 2014.
Ginsberg, Allen. Howl: A Graphic Novel. illus. by Eric Drooker. 224p. HarperPerennial. 2010.
HInds, Gareth. Beowulf. Candlewick. 2007.
Hinds, Gareth. The Iliad. Candlewick. 2019.
Hinds, Gareth. The Odyssey. Candlewick. 2010.
Hinds, Gareth. Poe: Stories and Poems, A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Candlewick 2017.
Lorca, Garcia Frederico. Canciones. Illustrated by Tobias Tak. NBM Graphic Novels. 2021.
Peters, Julian. Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. Plough Publishing House. 2020.
Poe, Edgar Allen. Gahan Wilson, Illustrator. The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allen Poe. Classics Illustrated. Papercutz. #4. 2009.
Further Reading Suggestions
Einspruch, Franklin. Ed. Comics as Poetry. foreword by William Corbett ; contributors: Kimball Anderson, Derik A. Badman, Warren Craghead, Julie Delporte, Oliver East, Franklin Einspruch, Jason Overby and Paul K. Tunis.New Modern Press. 2012.
Mullins, Nick. The Lost Cause of Poetry. Nijomu. 2019 (self published)
Valentine, Ryan M. Poetry Comix. Source Point Press. 2019.
Linthout, Theo and Willy Linthout. Years of the Elephant; translation, Michiel Horn ; poetry by Theo Linthout translated by Serge Baeken. Ponent Mon. 2009.
Goldstein, Bobbye S., Mother Goose on the Loose. illustrated with cartoons from The New Yorker. Harry N. Abrams Inc. 2003.
Works Cited
Badman, Derik. Comics Poetry, Poetry Comics, Graphic Poems. Hooded Utilitarian. August 20, 2021. https://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2012/08/comics-poetry-poetry-comics-graphic-poems/
Bennett, Tamryn and Guillermo Batiz. Comics Poetry: Praxis and Pedagogy. Image Text. Volume 7, Issue 3: Comics and Pedagogy. University of Florida. 2022. https://imagetextjournal.com/comics-poetry-praxis-and-pedagogy/
Brunetti, Ivan. Comics as Poetry. The Paris Review. Jan 30, 2020. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/01/30/comics-as-poetry/
Kersulov, M. L., & Henze, A. (2021). Where image and text meet identity: Gifted students’ poetry comics and the crafting of “nerd identities”. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 13(1), 92-105. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2021-13-1-8
Labarre, Nicolas. Poetry in Comics, Poetry Comics. Universite Bordeaux Montaigne. Ffhal-03367640f. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03367640/document
Mastricolo, Patricia. Poetry is Everywhere! Poetry Comics. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. April 2020. http://cbldf.org/2020/04/poetry-comics/
Nichols, Elizabeth Gackstetter. "A Discovery of Visual Poetry: Reading UNM's Collection of Mexican and Chilean Comics and Zines." (2022). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/laii_events/107
Parker, John. R. Comics and Poetry: The Rhyme and Rhythm of Sequential Art. May 2011. https://comicsalliance.com/comic-books-poetry/
Robertson, D 2015 Justification of Poetry Comics: A Multimodal Theory of an Improbable Genre. The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, 5(1): 9, pp. 1–6, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/cg.bg Published: 07 August 2015 Copyright: © 2015