Flarf poetry was an ''

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

'' poetry movement of the early 21st century. The term ''flarf'' was coined by the poet Gary Sullivan, who also wrote and published the earliest Flarf poems. Its first practitioners, working in loose collaboration on an email

mailing list A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. Mailing lists are often rented or sold. If rented, the renter agrees to use the mailing list only at contra ...

, used an approach that rejected conventional standards of quality and explored subject matter and tonality not typically considered appropriate for poetry. One of their central methods, invented by Drew Gardner, was to mine the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

with odd search terms then distill the results into humorous or disturbing poems, plays and other texts. Pioneers of the movement include Jordan Davis, Katie Degentesh, Drew Gardner,

Nada Gordon Nada Gordon (born 1964) is an American poet. She is a pioneer of Flarf poetry and a founding member of the Flarf Collective. Life Nada Gordon was born in 1964 in Oakland, California. Gordon was a precocious poet, exposed to poetry early by par ...

, Mitch Highfill,

Rodney Koeneke Rodney Koeneke (born September 12, 1968) is an American poet. Life and career Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Koeneke was raised in Tucson, Arizona and Hacienda Heights, California. He graduated with a BA iHistoryfrom the University of California, Berk ...

, Michael Magee,

Sharon Mesmer Sharon Mesmer (born in 1960) is a Polish-American poet, fiction writer, essayist and professor of creative writing. Her poetry collections are ''Annoying Diabetic Bitch'' (Combo Books, 2008), ''The Virgin Formica'' (Hanging Loose Press, 2008), '' ...

, Mel Nichols, Katie F-S, K. Silem Mohammad, Rod Smith, Gary Sullivan and others.

Overview

Joyelle McSweeney wrote in the ''Constant Critic'':

Joshua Clover Joshua Clover (December 30, 1962 – April 26, 2025) was an American poet, writer, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, and revolutionary. Clover was a published scholar, poet, critic, and jour ...

wrote in ''The Claudius App'': In 2007,

Barrett Watten Barrett Watten (born October 3, 1948) is an American poet, editor, and educator associated with the Language poets. He is a professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches modernism and cultural stu ...

, a poet and cultural critic, long associated with the so-called

Language poets The Language poets (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (magazine), ''L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E'' poets, after the magazine of that name) are an avant-garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The poets included: Berna ...

observed that:How ''The Grand Piano'' Is Being Written
. Discussion about Flarf has been broadcast by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and published in magazines such as

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

Bookforum ''Bookforum'' is an American book review magazine devoted to books and the discussion of literature. After announcing that it would cease publication in December 2022, it reported its relaunch under the direction of ''The Nation'' magazine six mo ...

, ''The Constant Critic'', ''Jacket'',

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

, ''Rain Taxi'', ''The Wall Street Journal'' and

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

. Further discussion has taken place on dozens of

blogs A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

and listservs across the United States, and in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Mexico, and elsewhere.

References

External links

Poems on-line

FLARF: MAINSTREAM Poetry for a MAINSTREAM World
a weblog, active since January 2003, devoted to the poetics of flarf
Flarf Feature at ''Jacket Magazine''
includes work from some of this movement's more recognizable practitioners including: Jordan Davis, Katie Degentesh, Benjamin Friedlander, Drew Gardner,

, Michael Magee,

, K. Silem Mohammad, Rod Smith, & Gary Sullivan
Poetry Magazine feature
Flarf is Dionysus. Conceptual Writing is Apollo. An introduction to the 21st Century's most controversial poetry movements. *An Italian example of "Googlism": https://ita.calameo.com/read/000115790b3167bea3911

Audio and textual practice: essays and discussion

at the Electronic Poetry Center
''Flarf: From Glory Days to Glory Hole''
an article by Gary Sullivan at ''The Brooklyn Rail''
''Google-Inspired Verse Gains Respect''
an article by Gautam Naik in the ''Wall Street Journal''
''The Tragic and the Wacky''
a review of Gary Sullivan's ''PPL in a Depot'' in ''Jacket Magazine''

an article by Dan Hoy at ''Jacket Magazine''

this essay from the ''Village Voice'' is subtitled: "Awful poems sought and found: From spam to Google, flarf redefines random"
''Studio 360: Schreiber, Flarf, Redman''
discussions, interviews, and readings of flarf poetry
"Can Flarf Ever Be Taken Seriously?"
article in Poets and Writers
Petroleum Hat
The Constant Critic's Joyelle McSweeney reviews Drew Gardner's "Petroleum Hat"
Flarf: Poetry Meme-Surfs With Kanye West and the LOLCats
Article on Flarf in The Atlantic
Flarf Poetry
Flarf primer on Bookforum featuring reviews of "The Anger Scale" by Katie Degentesh, "Petroleum Hat" by Drew Gardner, "Folly" by Nada Gordon, "Musee Mechanique" by

, "My Angie Dickinson" by Michael Magee, "Annoying Diabetic Bitch" by

. "Deer Head Nation" by K. Silem Mohammad, & "PPL in a Depot" by Gary Sullivan
"On Flarf" by Rachel HymanCall That a Poem?! Understanding the Flarf Movement
by Jack Chelgren

Music and performance

Music and poetry conducted by Drew Gardner.
Flarf Orchestra live video
The Flarf Orchestra performing live at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Features Katie Degentesh, Nada Gordon and Sharon Mesmer. ;Flarf vs. Conceptualism controversy
Why Conceptualism is Better than Flarf: Vanessa Place
Poet and lawyer Vanessa Place's talk recorded on March 11, 2010 at

AWP AWP may refer to: Organizations Political parties *American Workers Party *Animal Welfare Party, a political party in the United Kingdom * Australian Workers Party, a political party in Australia *Awami Workers Party, a left-wing political party ...