Page 36 of Newspaper Blackout, printed by Time Out Chicago.

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A bonus poem for Mother’s Day: this one is from page 59 of Newspaper Blackout.

This is one of those poems where the meaning changes depending on the title. It was originally titled “The Babysitter.”

Say Happy Mother’s Day to your mom with some Newspaper Blackout poems!

Thanks y’all for helping put Newspaper Blackout at #16 on the Poetry Foundation’s bestsellers list. If you haven’t yet, you can get your copy here.

Time Out Chicago just said of the book, “”Turns out Richard Nixon wasn’t our nation’s most gifted redactor.”

See other book updates on the Newspaper Blackout Facebook page.

Page 21 of Newspaper Blackout. Blogged by Cal Morgan over at Fifty-Two Stories.

It’s been three whole weeks since Newspaper Blackout came out. If y’all liked the book, I’d sure appreciate a review on Amazon.

Page 90 of Newspaper Blackout. Blogged by The New Yorker.

And a great tale from Heather Brush, the books page editor at the Roanoke Times (she reviewed NB):

There’s a funny story behind my review…the book was sitting on my desk here in the newsroom, waiting for me to finish it and review it, when it disappeared. Someone swiped it! I put up “wanted” posters and mysteriously it was returned in the dark of night. Apparently, news people are very interested in this book!

A book worth stealing — that’s what I like to hear! Thanks, Heather.

Two other great reviews from The Christian Science Monitor and The Austin American-Statesman.

Also: over 500 people now follow the Newspaper Blackout Tumblr where folks post their own blackout poems. Check it out.

Page 57 of Newspaper Blackout. Blogged by The New Yorker.

For those of you in Austin, I’ll be at the Hotel San Jose tonight at 8PM, teaching you how to make blackout poems!

Our super-soft, super-badass Newspaper Blackout t-shirts are shipping this week! Get yours:

Austin food blogger Addie Broyles featured me on her Relish Austin blog for The Austin American Statesman. She asked me to make a blackout poem from one of her columns, so this is what I came up with.

She also asked me a few questions:

What three things are always in your fridge? To quote the title of my friend Bill Keaggy’s book, Milk Eggs Vodka.

What’s your favorite condiment? If I ever drown myself, it’ll be in Mi Madre’s salsa.

What’s your go-to snack while reading/working with a newspaper? Almonds…and beer.

See the condition of our fridge after a party at our house: “Austin Kleon: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?”

The folks over at the Speakeasy Blog asked me to make some poems from the WSJ, and I obliged. I sent them five, thinking they’d only run one or two, and they ran them all. They’re a little hard to read over there, so I’m re-posting them here:

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“Tex”

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“The Market”

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“The Ark”

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“Land”

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“The Secretary”

I polled The Twitterverse, and The Twitterverse spoke.

If there’s ever a Newspaper Blackout sequel (and I suggest you buy a copy if you ever want to see that happen), I think I’d like to use more drawing and graphic elements in the poems, a la Humument or TNT En Amerique.

Speaking of, you can now Look Inside! the book on Amazon. Tip: if you keep clicking “Surprise me!” you can see a bunch of poems.