EKPHRASTIC POETRY

The Artist's Garden at Giverny (1900), oil on canvas
by Claude Monet.
Located in the Yale University Art Gallery.
Image in the public domain-copyright expired

 I love going to our local art gallery.
 I love going by myself and just hanging out.
The creativity of others always amazes and inspires me.

How many ways can you portray an object, a person, or an idea?

The  images and installations I see each time I go spark my own desire to create.
But I can't paint or draw or sculpt beyond the just- for-fun-elementary level.
So I write-- in response to, because of,  beside, and before the works displayed.

Going to the art gallery was also one of my favorite field trips with my students.
Some of my students were talented illustrators, painters and artists.  But many, like me, were not.
Even though we could not paint or draw or even understand some of the pieces before which we stood, we could all view the work with pleasure or displeasure or bewilderment or amazement.

Before each trip to the Columbus Museum of Art, we would receive resources to introduce our students to the process of observing and appreciating art-- including a PowerPoint that taught us how practice "artful reading" which included observing, describing, interpreting and supporting our interpretation with details or elements from the painting or work to proving what we think.  We would also receive a CD of 12 paintings on which we could practice our new "reading" skill.
Click here to access these 12 paintings in pdf format. 
Click here to access information and lessons related to the 12  paintings. 

My students could not help but notice  similarities in artful reading to the process of using evidence to prove and inference or conclusion when reading a  written text.

In addition,  a docent would come to our classes and share works that were currently on exhibit that we would be seeing, and also provide additional practice in observing and "reading" art.

"Writing to art" quickly became  a favorite expression of creativity in my classroom.

The above 12 paintings were always available on one of our computers so that students could "read the art" and then write.

The students also quickly located other online sources for additional  paintings and pieces of art.

Books featuring art quickly became the books of choice in my room-- to pore over at recess time, to "borrow without my knowledge" for an evening of art at home, to keep in one's desk for a rare moment of free time, to share with a friend.

Several excellent books of art and accompanying ekphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by art) are available. Here are three of my favorites.

 In Heart to Heart : New Poems Inspired by Twentieth-Century American Art, Jan Greenburg, editor (or curator), has selected amazing 20th century works of art by some of best-loved American artist-paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs-- and commissioned original poetry to pair with the art by some of our best-loved  20th century American poets. Biographical information for both artists and poets is included in the back matter.


My students' favorite pairings included Ringside by Ron Koertge written to George Bellows's Stag at Sharkey's

My personal favorite--although I could think of a reason for identifying each pairing as my favorite --is America Talks by Peter F. Neumeyer written to Barber Shop by Jacob Lawrence.

What Heart to Heart does for 20th century American artists and poets, Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World does for  international artists and poets. Again Jan Greenberg has paired through-provoking and amazing art with poems written to or inspired by each work.

A painting that has always fascinated me, The Scream by  Edvard Munch is included in this volume, along with a poem by Gunter Kunert ( translated from the German by Gerald Chapple).  Through this poem I was made aware of two figures that I had never noticed in the margin of the painting. (See related post The Margins of Our Lives.)

In each of these companion volumes Greenberg has organized the pairings into four categories or types of interpretations which suggest to us types of writing we might also do in response to art.

• Stories in which the poet looks at an artwork and imagines a story.

• Voices in which the poet enters the work and speaks in the voice of the subject depicted there.

• Expressions in which the poet focuses on the transaction between the art and the viewer.

• Impressions in which the poet identifies and describes what she sees in the elements--line, shape, color, texture.

Long before I was aware of the term ekphrasis or ekphrastic poetry, I loved Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art edited by Belinda Rochelle and  shared these unique pairings  with my students.

My favorite in this compilation is Women by Alice Walker written to William H. Johnson's Harriet Tubman, which blesses the cover of this book.  These works of art and poems explore many themes and aspects of African American history, culture, and life- family love, slavery, racism, pride, education and more.


Which piece of art speaks to you?
Which work of art is begging you to write?

Today's Deeper Writing Possibilities

Select a piece of art--a  painting, sculpture, photograph or other form.

You may locate your piece in one of the texts above, online, or you may visit you local art museum

Check your local art museum website or these resources for more art selections:

• Artcyclopedia
• Garden of Praise
• Web Museum

 As you observe a piece of art you may want to follow the "artful reading" steps that my students learned from the resources at the Columbus Museum of Art.

• Observe the art.

            What do you see? What do you notice?

• Identify specific features, elements,  and subjects.

           What do you notice as you look closer?

• Interpret what you see.

          How do you interpret the art? What does this piece mean? Why did the artist make particular                       choices?

• Support your interpretation with evidence.

        What details or elements of the work support your interpretation?

Use one of Jan Greenberg's  four categories for ideas about how to approach your poem or writing:

• Stories--looks at an artwork and imagine a story.

• Voices-- enter the work and speak in the voice of the subject depicted in your piece of art.

• Expressions-focus on the transaction between the art itself and you ( or someone else) as the viewer.

• Impressions - identify and describe what you see in the elements--line, shape, color, texture.

ALLY CONDIE: OCTELA 2013

After this long (still on-going) winter, OCTELA 2013 was a fresh breath of spring learning.

(See the previous post  sharing insights gleaned from J. Patrick Lewis's morning keynote presentation at OCTELA 2013.)

The learning continued as a our lunchtime keynote speaker, Ally Condie, shared how reading  specific books throughout her life influenced the writing of her popular books, The Matched Trilogy (Matched, Crossed, Reached) 

As I listened to her share her experiences with books and art and family,  and other people who were willing to support her in writing, in reading and in life, I couldn't help but consider the books  that have influenced my own reading and writing and life.

What is the book you wanted to live?

For Ally, this book was Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  She shared how her grandmother was willing to dress up and play-act with her--- willing to bring this book, and her dream of living it to life.

I never caught the Little House fever-- those books are not my cup of tea--although many of my fourth and fifth grade girls read Little House exclusively for a period.  They kept our school library shelf on which those books were kept empty most of the school year.  They eagerly added their names to the waiting lists for those volumes checked out and being enjoyed by some other little girls not from our class, and they shared and compared plots, crushes and other Little House information.

I, on the other hand wanted to live, at 9 and 10, the teenage life I read about in Betty Cavanna' s books, which had absolutely nothing to do with my actual life.

 I read every one of her books that my small local library owned. (Although I vividly remember the books, I could only remember Betty C-something for the author---the Internet is a wonderful external memory and retrieval system)

What is the book in which you recognized yourself?

Ally wanted to teach Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury early in her career.  An older more experienced teacher challenged her choice Oh honey, you have to be good to teach Dandelion Wine-- I don't know if you are that good.

Of course that kind of challenge dictates that you rise above the concerns, the objections, and doubts.  She learned from this experience that if things go badly,  it is not necessarily you.  And likewise,  if things go well, it is not necessarily you, either.

She linked Match to her experiences with a Junior Prom in a small Utah town.  Each junior girl  with no date was matched with senior boy.  This had been the custom--an intended merciful and kind practice-- for a long time. 

In discussions with her husband, and influenced by the distopian 1984, she wondered what if the government did get to decide who you married?  Don't all good stories begin with a What if?

Distopian novels and fantasy (but not necessarily science fiction) are, and always have been, my cup of tea.  I remember reading 1984 several times on my own, and then for various classes, but the first book of this genre that entranced me, opened the door to wanting more of the same, and established this as a favorite genre, was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle was a close second.

This is the book that helped me, like Ally , to understand: 

As things are, they have not always been-- as things are, they will not always be.

What is the book that changed the way you read? And also perhaps the way you write? 

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner was this book for Ally.  

She recounts how she read this book over and over. From him she learned the importance of setting.  Her painter mom also helped her to understand that seeing is critical and how we are changed in the moment of creating, whether with chalk and paint, or with words.

In Match, the setting becomes crucial as her characters needed to live in an unfamiliar environment.  She relied on her mother's advice about seeing and her brother's expertise in the outdoors.  

The books for me that changed the way I read, and opened up possibilities in writing are those that are written in non-traditional ways--multigenre, epistolary, linked vignettes, alternate perspectives, graphic or comics--different in some way.

Older books that are complex in style and challenged my thinking include: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and Maus by Art Spiegelman. Each in its own way, offered me new frameworks for telling stories and thinking about writing.

What is the book you can't put down?

Ally says her first choice is always and anything Agatha Christie.

.

For me, it has varied over the years--- my perennial favorites are Anne Rice, Milan Kundera,  Toni Morrison, Junot Diaz.... and more 

In an earlier post Because of That Book, I  listed books that have changed me--many of these are my can't-put-down selections.

What is the book that changed the way you look at people?

Ally's artist mother showed her a painting of a woman looking out over the water. At the edge of the painting  there was a white image reflected in the water.  What is that? her mother asked. Just as most of us would have answered, Ally quickly said A boat.  Her mother's response was Are you sure?

The book that kept her asking the same question is Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler

The lesson in this for Ally, and for us is:

You give people enough when you are writing or making art (or teaching), but always there is this possibility at the edge of it,  which is not so clear that there is not room for imagination

Don't we love books that leave us this possibility at  the edge? For me some of those books, among others, are Cloud Atlas by David Mitchel., House of Leaves  by Mark Z. Danielewki, American Gods by Neil Gaiman ,and the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.

These are each books that no matter how many times they are read , that white reflection at the edge of  understanding can not be just a boat...


Ally Conde gave us much to ponder and remember, as she took us on her journey though the books that have influenced her reading and writing and her life.

She left us with this final  pearl:

When the teacher says write what you know--all of what has come to you and been a part of your life enters into the process.

What books have influenced your reading  and writing and enter into the process when you create new texts? 

Today's Deeper Writing Possibilities

Reflect on your reading and writing life-- your literacy development and history.

Recall Ally Condie's categories of  books and think about them in your own life.

What is the book  you want to live? 

What is the  book in which you recognize yourself?

Which book changed the way you read?

Which book can you not put down?

Which book changes the way you look at people?

Using Ally Condie' s five questions as a framework, write an essay or personal narrative.