‘Emmett William’s Sweethearts is a breakthrough. It is to concrete poetry as Wuthering Heights is to the English novel; as Guernica is to modern art.

Sweethearts is the first large scale lyric masterpiece among the concrete texts, compelling in its emotional scope, readable, a sweetly heartfelt, jokey, crying, laughing, tender expression of love.

It moves. Miraculously, the formal limitations of Sweethearts enabled Emmett to prove that, with both hands tied behind his back, gagged, just nudging letters out of a regular grid with his nose (look, no mirrors), a real artist can write the Book of Life all over again.’ (Richard Hamilton)