Oyvind Fahltstrom: The Art of Writing serves as both an informative and entertaining introduction to the Brazilian-born Swedish poet-artist, one of the mid-twentieth century's most intriguing cultural figures, and as a valuable critical analysis of some of his most important works.

Fahlstrom (1928-76) created a body of work as profoundly political as it is aesthetic, spanning two tumultuous decades in the avant-garde and comprising concrete poetry, manifestos, plays, performance, filmmaking, paintings, multiple prints, sculpture, and installations. Bessa focuses on how Fahlstrom's early experiments with concrete poetry influenced his later works in the visual arts and offers close readings of his seminal work Bord, his painting series Ade-Ledic-Nander, his interactive painting The Planetarium, and his radio play Birds in Sweden.