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Shanna Compton

Poet, Artist, Book Designer

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Poetry

Room Tone: An exhibition of ambient sound collages

Poster for Room Tone, an exhibition of ambient sound collages by Shanna Compton, June 1–30 at Anodyne, 175 Main Street, Searsport Maine. Artist reception Saturday, June 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. In addition to this text at the top and bottom, a central collage feature a linocut house on torn and cut pink strips of paper and a full moon floating in a pink sky behind the house. A closed-caption sound effect in a dark gray box in the lower right says (ROOM TONE).

ROOM TONE ambient sound collages by Shanna Compton June 1–30 at Anodyne175 W. Main St., Searsport ME Artist reception & Deep Whoosh book launch: Saturday, June 21, 5–7 p.m. Save the dates! I’ll be at Anodyne on Sunday, June 1,

Shanna May 22, 2025May 28, 2025 Events, Poetry, Visual Art Read more

Welcome to INKY: A Studio Visit

I’ve restarted my newsletter under the title INKY. Subscribe here if you’d like to receive a letter from me, just once a month. No tiers, zero dollars. Hello, friends. Welcome to INKY. Once a month, I’ll be offering this newsletter

Shanna April 24, 2025April 28, 2025 Events, Poetry, Printmaking, Visual Art Read more

Two decades, how?

A visual poetry collage constructed from an antique book page, torn painted papers, and another paper with ascemic handwriting in pencil. The book page has been altered with white wax pencil and dark gray graphite so only a few words remain (the poem).

I’m pretty sure this is the twentieth year in a row I have done NaPoWriMo alongside Maureen and others. I just went back to my old blogspot to check, and yep, April 2005. Amazing. I have lost count of how

Shanna April 2, 2024May 1, 2024 Poetry, Visual Art Read more

Midwinter Constellation

The cover of Midwinter Constellation. It’s a mottled turquoise blue with a vintage look and cream type. A few stars and hand-drawn loop float behind the title and cross the spine to the back cover, where all 32 author names and the blurbs appear.

I’m excited and honored to be part of this stellar collaborative book, forthcoming next month (January 2022) from Black Lawrence Press. The spark was Becca Klaver’s, and the experience remains among my favorite being-a-poet-among-poets happenings to date, writing through a

Shanna December 16, 2021May 1, 2024 Book Design, Poetry Read more

Another review of (CREATURE SOUNDS FADE)!

A copy of Creature Sounds Fade held in the hand of a tattooed friend. The cover feature a pink wolf painting and the title and author’s name are styled like closed-caption sound effects.

“In a collection that is two parts feral eco-poetry, and one part stingingly personal reflection, New Jersey writer Shanna Compton uses re-engineered punctuation as the soundtrack to her crucial work. Here, the woods and the animals do not merely appear

Shanna March 31, 2021May 1, 2024 Poetry Read more

First review of (CREATURE SOUNDS FADE)!

The cover of (CREATURE SOUNDS FADE) by Shanna Compton, featuring a painting of a wolf in ochre, pink, black, and gray against a pale blue-gray background. The title and author name are styled in semi-opaque black boxes and yellow monospace type, in the manner of Closed Captions, which are a theme. The back cover shows three blurbs, by Diane Seuss, Dara Wier, and Anselm Berrigan.

“The latest title from Lambertville, New Jersey poet, artist and book designer Shanna Compton is (Creature Sounds Fade) (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), a collection of poems predominantly built of single-page lyric narrative sketch-works, as multiple of her poems give the

Shanna December 3, 2020May 1, 2024 Poetry Read more

(CREATURE SOUNDS FADE) is here!

A copy of Creature Sounds Fade held in the hand of a tattooed friend. The cover feature a pink wolf painting and the title and author’s name are styled like closed-caption sound effects.

The official publication date is now November 15, but copies are back from the printer and Black Lawrence has started shipping out the preorders! I’m thinking of some alternate ways to virtually celebrate, since I can’t do the reading trips

Shanna October 30, 2020May 1, 2024 Poetry Read more

Closed Caption collage series

Several of the collages spread out on a black, tan, and light blue woven rug. Each features a title styled like a closed-caption sound effect, in a black box with white all-caps type surrounded by brackets.

I’m working on a series of 50 collages using found imagery and closed-caption sound effects, which will be going to the first 50 people to preorder (CREATURE SOUNDS FADE) from Black Lawrence. A visual take on the method behind many

Shanna May 27, 2020May 1, 2024 Poetry, Printmaking, Visual Art Read more

The Eyes Have Woods: a film-poem

Shanna May 10, 2020May 1, 2024 Poetry Read more

(CREATURE SOUNDS FADE) now available for preorder

It has a cover! And I love it. Everything is weird & all my launch events have been canceled or postponed indefinitely, but I am nevertheless excited and grateful the book is still coming out as planned. I hope you

Shanna April 25, 2020May 1, 2024 Poetry Read more
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Latest book: Creature Sounds Fade
Art shop: Hi Water Press at Bloof Books

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I am no longer using Facebook or Twitter, though I have parked shell accounts.
Please find me at one of these other spots.

Recent Posts

  • INKY 2: Room Tone in June + On Loss & Found Materials
  • Room Tone: An exhibition of ambient sound collages
  • Welcome to INKY: A Studio Visit
  • 2025 Exhibitions & Events
  • Last event of the year + the new UMVA website!

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Copyright Notice

© 2025, Shanna Compton. All rights reserved.
Please use the contact form for image licensing or reprint inquiries.
Prints + original artwork are available from Hi Water Press at Bloof Books.

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