Top Secret Poems comes with a set of instructions: "Scratch it. Read it. Burn it." The product contains a series of poems based on some of the most popular conspiracy theories. This scratchcard is enclosed in an office-like brown envelope marked as 'Private & Confidential", and all you have to do is scratch, read the poem and burn it (not compulsory) using the match inside the brown envolope! The paper used for the cards is 100% recyclable and is made with 60% recycled materials and 0% chlorine.
Astra’s page-based poems and objects often have an interactive dimension to them as a means of reaching out to new or non-poetry audiences as well as engaging with readers and viewers in a deeper sense. From her Poetry Jenga which has taken many forms over the years to wearable poems, her tangible visual poems often take the shape of — and reshape or transform — recognisable objects.
Concerned with playing too much? Worry not, too much poetry never harmed anyone.
Top Secret Poems by Astra Papachristodoulou
85 x 55 mm
350 gsm
1 scratchcard
First edition of 200
Launched: 20 April 2024
Poem Atlas (London)
Astra Papachristodoulou holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Surrey. Her practice-based doctoral project at Surrey was funded by the Doctoral College Studentship Award and explored sculptural poetics as a revolutionary act in the context of the Anthropocene. Astra is the author and editor of several books including Selected Variations for bees (Guillemot Press), and Constellations (also from Guillemot Press), and her work has been translated into Turkish, Korean, German, Russian, Slovenian and Spanish. Her favourite Tarot card is The Star.