The idea is simple, instead of staring at a blank page and wondering where to begin, participants start with words that are already there. As facilitator Vijayalakshmi Mythily  puts it, “You find any piece of text that’s already written, pick out words that speak to you, and make a new poem out of it.” With markers in hand, participants will black out the words they do not need, leaving behind a new trail of language that tells an entirely different story.

An old book page transformed into an erasure poem. PICS COURTESY/ ANANYA SALONKAR and Atrangi Katta