ROCKLAND— Book spine poetry started off as a lark, a meme in the 1990s, after artist Nina Katchadourian took photographs of stacked book titles that, when read top to bottom, created short sentences and stories.

In April, the Rockland Public Library put out a contest for book spine poetry.

“Book spine poetry has been around for a long time, but we wanted to offer a contest for the month of April, which is Poetry Month with something that was alternative to the traditional poetry contest,” said Librarian Jessica Blanchard. 

Approximately 30 people submitted photographs of poems they created from stacking the titles of books in a certain order.

“We had people use their own books, books from the library, even books from the inter-loan library, because certain people had titles in mind that they needed to complete their poem and didn’t have a certain word to go with it, said Blanchard. “From the children who submitted, we had a few kids who submitted spine poetry from our after-school program as well as a few students from RSU 13 and homeschooled students.”

Clare Zall won Rockland Public Library’s “Best Overall” category of book spine poetry with her politically-themed entry which reads:

My American Heritage

Stars & Stripes Forever

A Nation of Immigrants

The Audacity of Hope

Dog Days at The White House

Vanishing Americana

“I have a lot of books on American History,” said Zoll. “Scanning my bookshelves, the poem came together quickly. On the poem’s subject matter, she explained, “I grew up 20 miles from D.C. and patriotism was as natural as breathing, even during the Nixon scandal. When I moved to Maine as a young bride, I was happy to find Mainers had great civic pride. Small towns, granges, celebrations keyed to local history. I met young leaders like Chellie Pingree and Jeff Evangelos who had a strong desire to serve the people. Patriotism unites people. Together, we can do more than we can do individually.”

Delving more deeply into the political context, she said: “The last elections I worked to register young voters. Their jaded views surprised me: most had to be convinced that the power of one vote was essential to a healthy America. Some did not know they were eligible to vote, some did not know they could vote with no party affiliation, some even seemed wary of voting. It's deeply disturbing to hear someone say they only see negativity and division in America today. President Obama said America is a work in progress. I agree with that statement. We're a very young country when you think about it, and there's a lot of work to be done. In 2019, I see Nationalism, not patriotism. A patriot is proud of his country for what it does and what it stands for, while a nationalist is proud of his or her country no matter what it does.”

Others who won categories include Best Love Poem: Kalen Darney; Best Nature Poem: Betsy Headley; Best Haiku: Eileen Fitzgerald; Most Humorous: Phyllis Merriam; Best Nature: Rosabelle Humiston and Abby Goode; Most Humorous: Jessa Blackman; Best Kid Haiku & Best Overall: Jared Blackman.

For more examples, check out #bookspinepoetry on Twitter or read this Scholastic article on how “Found Poetry” spurs creativity.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com