Un/published: Presence and Absence in Contemporary Erasure Poetry.

This article examines erasure poetry as a form of constraint-based appropriative poetry that refashions published source texts by partially obliterating them, creating new works through the interplay of presence and absence on the page. It highlights how erasure poetry functions as a structural analogy for social erasure of marginalized groups and as a critical intervention in hegemonic discourses, often addressing social justice issues by revising foundational or official documents. Through analyses of erasures by poets such as Tracy K. Smith, Janet Holmes, and Jen Bervin—who engage with texts like the Declaration of Independence and Emily Dickinson’s poetry—the article demonstrates how erasure poems invite layered readings that connect readers to both the original texts and the new poetic compositions. The article also discusses the aesthetic and political significance of erasure marks and gaps, emphasizing that understanding erasure poetry requires attention to both what is retained and what is deleted, thereby destabilizing boundaries between published and unpublished, voiced and silenced narratives.