REFORM GROTESK

OEI # 90-91: Sickle of Syntax & Hammer of Tautology. Concrete and Visual Poetry in Yugoslavia, 1968–1983 Guest-edited by Sezgin Boynik

OEI magazineMarch 2021Selected by Alexis Zavialoff & Maia Asshaq

Archives can be the easiest and quickest way to learn about a specific literary or visual art movement of the past. With OEI #90-91, guest-editor Sezgin Boynik has created his own bound archive of poetry, interviews and other texts widely circulated in socialist ex-Yugoslavia that will help readers from afar better understand this small, but important moment in that country’s history. Relying mainly on public sources – libraries and second-hand book vendors – Boynik takes a democratic approach to sourcing the featured work. Like other concrete and visual poetry movements, these poems explore relevant social and political themes. However, unlike similar movements in the West, these works were often circulated in journals with print runs in the thousands, making their omission from previously published anthologies of concrete poetry even more inexplicable. This collection is a worthwhile addendum to those anthologies. — Alexis Zavialoff and Maia Asshaq

Pre-order our 2021 Summer Reader, featuring book recommendations from Barbara Epler (New Directions), Jeremy Poynting (Peepal Tree Press), and Alexis Zavialoff & Maia Asshaq (Motto Books) here.