We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of artist and writer Judith Copithorne (1939-2025). Judith was one of Vancouver’s most influential concrete poets, her “poem-drawings” employing abstract lines and words to create a visual work of art, a reference to concrete poetry’s emphasis on typographical effects rather than verbal importance. Her work from the 1960s and 1970s engaged with meditation and community, referring to mandalas, maps and yogic texts. Over the course of her long career, her work expanded to include explorations into digital means of composing poem-drawings, creating crisp and over saturated drawings with texts. Copithorne’s practice in concrete poetry and other forms of experimental writing led to her social and artistic participation at Sound Gallery, Motion Studio and Intermedia in 1960s Vancouver, as well as performances with Helen Goodwin’s dance company TheCo. She worked alongside many artist-poets, taking part in Downtown Vancouver Poets, an informal group imagined as a counterpoint to those involved at TISH, a Canadian poetry newsletter run by student-poets at UBC in 1961. Copithorne leaves an extensive list of publications including over 40 books, chapbooks and ephemeral items.

We will miss Judith’s generous and sometimes cheeky conversations and send our very best to her family and friends.