Karl Kempton has composed visual poetry since 1974. His work has evolved from typewriter to computer and now includes mixed media and SLR digital photography. He's exhibited work in the US and around the world and has published poems in over 35 books of visual and lexical poetry. Between 1976 and 1990, Kempton edited Kaldron, an international journal of visual poetry. He currently co-edits the online version of the journal with Karl Young. Kempton is also an active environmentalist who works against the nuclear power and offshore oil drilling industries, helps protect neighborhoods from pesticide drift, and works with Chumash Indians and archaeologists save sacred sites along the California coast. Since 2009, he's worked with the California Central Coast Marine Sanctuary Alliance to protect near- and offshore marine habitats.