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Ekphrastic Poetry

By Maier Museum

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The creation of original poetry and prose in response to works of visual art, known as Ekphrastic writing, is a writing exercise originating in ancient Greece where schoolboys were assigned composition exercises about painting and architecture. Familiar examples are poems such as John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819) or W. H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” (1938).

Ekphrastic writing has enjoyed a revival among contemporary authors in recent decades, and art museums across the country have eagerly incorporated original writing into their programs.

The Maier Museum’s first Ekphrastic poetry publication came in 2005 with Image/Word: A Book of Poems. This compilation of verse was written by community members of all ages in response to artworks in the permanent collection of the Museum.

In 2009 Image/Word was followed by Water Lines, a book of original poems inspired by the Maier Museum of Art’s 2008 exhibition Water Marks: Selections from the Permanent Collection. Water Lines includes poems from area elementary, middle, and high school students; Randolph College students; and adult writers active in Central Virginia.

Most recently, poet Keith Ratzlaff taught a class on Ekphrastic poetry as guest instructor for Randolph College’s Visiting Writers Program in the spring of 2010. The Museum was inspired to establish this Ekphrastic poetry webpage where poets can submit verse written in response to artworks in the Museum’s permanent collection for possible publication. Professor Ratzlaff gives advice to poets new to Ekphrastic poetry in this article. His poem, Landscape with Girl and Flowers, was written in response to the Maier Museum’s untitled work by Hannah Crawford.

The Museum continues to accept submissions on a rolling basis. We invite poets of all ages to submit poems written in response to works held in the permanent collection of the Museum for possible publication.

We hope you enjoy reading these Ekphrastic poems. Please be sure to come back as we continue to add poetry paired with our incredible collection of art.