The intersection of tattoos and literature

Aug 05 2009

I love literature, there is no doubt about that, but I don’t think I love literature enough to get it tattooed on my skin. Yet some people have done exactly that and these literary tattoos are the subject of a printed anthology that a few brave editors have decided to put together.

People get all sorts of stuff tattooed on their bodies: Everything from animals, dragons, names/pictures of children and various symbols that hold special meaning for the wearer. I even have a tattoo on my arm that I got over a decade ago when I was in the US Navy. Back then, and even now, I never considered a ‘literary’ tattoo.

According to this LA Times Book Blog article, Justin Taylor and Eva Talmadge from HTMLGiant are asking for submissions from anyone with a literary-related tattoo on his/her body:

We are seeking high quality photographs of your literary tattoos for an upcoming book. Send us your ink! …All images must include the name (or pseudonym) of the tattoo bearer, city and state or country, and a transcription of the text itself, along with its source. For portraits or illustrations, please include the name of the author or book on which it’s based. We’d also like to read a few words about the tattoo’s meaning to you — why you chose it, when you first read that poem or book, or how its meaning has evolved over time. How much (or how little) you choose to say about your tattoo is up to you, but a paragraph or two should do the trick.Please send clear digital images of the highest print quality possible to tattoolit@gmail.com.

I don’t think I’ll be running out to the nearest tattoo parlor anytime soon to have my favorite Emily Dickinson poem enshrined on my skin. Once the anthology is published, however, it will be very interesting to see the diverse number of tattoos and literary references that people have chosen to be permanently inked on their bodies.

Would you ever get a tattoo of a line from your favorite poem or novel tattooed on your body? And if you already have one, please share your experience with the rest of us by leaving a comment below.