Hello, and welcome to
The UNPRECEDENTED Project.

If you’re here, you’re here by chance.
Read on for instructions for how to be a writer and get a (free) cider.

The UNPRECEDENTED Project is a blackout poetry experiment that circulates torn book pages between strangers. Working with The Decameron — a 14th c. Black Plague novel — we transform each page into something new by “blacking out” or erasing part of the original story. The UNPRECEDENTED collection currently holds hundreds of these pages-turned-poems, received and returned from regular people all over the world,

To participate, all you’ll need are:

o   A page (provided)

o   Something to write with (provided)

o An open mind (all you)

This isn’t a high-stakes art project—just have fun with it! Then, exchange your poem for a complimentary drink.

Here’s how:

Choose.

 

Choose (1) page of The Decameron at random.

Play.

 

Before you make your poem, try not to read the words on the page – only see them. Treat your page like a word bank. What phrases jump out at you? What words do you like?

Obscure parts of the text by simply blacking out, collaging, drawing on, or destroying it. Put in a lot or a little effort.

Remember that this is an anonymous, low stakes, just-for-fun kind of thing. Don’t fret—enjoy it!

Return.

 

When you’re finished, slip your page in the red box, manned by RK (curly head) and LJ (shaved head). Get your free cider. Get loose, and feel God in this Chiles cidery tonight.

All successfully returned pages are published anonymously in the online gallery and on our Instagram page @un.precedent.ed. As part of the public collection, these pages become part of a traveling exhibition—some of which is displayed around you.

Thanks for contributing a verse.

You can get notified when new poems are posted by following us on Instagram @un.precedent.ed.

Want to play again?
Sign up here and receive a mysterious invitation in the mail.

Like this project?
UNPRECEDENTED events are free and open to the public.
Sadly, love doesn’t pay the bills. We thrive on donations.
Donate via Venmo: @UNPRECEDENTED