CCV Poetry Reading with Rick Agran and Linda Quinlan Wednesday, April 5, 2023 6:30-8 PM In-Person Community College of Vermont 660 Elm Street, Montpelier Please join us for a poetry reading at the Great Room at the CCV site in Montpelier. In addition to well-known poets Linda Quinlan & Rick Agran, staff and students from CCV will be reading. We are excited to once again have a reading at the Montpelier campus and hope you will join us. For more information, contact Samn Stockwell at samnwell(at)hotmail(dot)com.
Live Ekphrastic Poetry and Wordplay at The Front Thursday, April 20, 2023 6:30 PM In-Person The Front 6 Barre Street, Montpelier Two poets, photographers, and imagemakers (Richard Moore and Rick Agran) lead an evening of "descriptive, inventive, improvisational process" know as ekphrasis. They'll use The Front's Art Show 54 as a jumping off point. Art appreciators obviously share and enjoy collaborative sense-making. We'll explore, transmute, and transmogrify fine art into words and vice-versa. See and hear historical examples of ekphrastic poems. Learn simple techniques. Try and write. Share as willing. Bring writing implements, eyes, ears, and imagination to discover new ways to "enter" an artwork. Good for all poets and artists. Eager rookies encouraged. Masks optional, and bodily autonomy encouraged. Contact radiobonmot(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.
Context for ekphrasis and elaboration At its simplest, ekphrasis paints pictures with words. Ekphrasis is a Greek word translating roughly as "a describing process." Writers, artists, and art appreciators enjoy reading and writing ekphrastic poems because they provide new ways of interpreting and sharing fine art. At its best, ekphrasis is collaborative sense-making. Poems inspired by two and three-dimensional art evoke new perspectives for audiences, create new thoughts, feelings, and new ways to "enter" an artwork. Readers are offered new images and lenses. Ekphrastic poems create parallel lives for works of art or characters in them. As part of The Front Gallery's participation in Poem City 2023, writers and artists will select a compelling (visual) work and seek explore it, describe it, and/or recreate it using (textual) words. In this spirit of collaboration, writers will endeavor to describe, interpret, and free associate. Ready to give it a try? Bring a note or sketch book and a favorite trusty writing implement. Or bring a coffee table art book, an artwork you've wanted to write about, or a beloved postcard. We'll have a brief introduction and share examples of ekphrastic poems. We'll learn about artistic and poetic vocabulary and ways to see and describe. We'll explore risk-taking and experimentation. They're vital parts of the early stages of creativity. Then we'll attempt ekphrastic writing using the gallery's show for inspiration. In the end we'll gather and share our impressions and reflections on the process, maybe even fledgling poems. This is designed for writers and artists of all skills and ages. Even little kids can explore if they have scribes to write for them. See Richard's work