Named after their display on clotheslines by street vendors, Brazil's Livros do Cordel are a form of street literature with roots in Europe. Becoming a dying artform, these cheap pamphlets tell the news as only poets can. Everyday fare, such as political scandals, arson, revenge, illicit affairs, and so on, are commemorated in doggerel verse, cheaply printed and illustrated with wood, linoleum, and rubber cuts. What they lack in technical skill they more than make up for with vibrant images and snappy rhymes. Some of the poets sing their works to guitar or boom box accompaniment to attract customers to the market place.

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