Carlos
Almaraz, Night Magic (Blue
Jester), 1988,
Smithsonian
American Art Museum, Gift of Gloria Werner
©
1988, Carlos Almaraz Estate
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“We will introduce and ask participants to experiment with various approaches to writing ekphrastic poems within the contexts of both the exhibition’s focus on Latina/o visual art and contemporary critical/theoretical concerns regarding ekphrasis. At different times before and during the workshop, participants will read and discuss a selection of published ekphrastic poems, which illustrate diverse approaches to writing in response to visual art, as well as a few critical articles that provide a foundation for such practice by addressing some of the theoretical, ethical and aesthetic implications of ekphrasis. For example, poets have envoiced the “silent” image, speaking from the perspective of a figure in the artwork; analyzed the art for its content, style, aesthetics, and/or structure; favored tonal or structural links to the artwork over thematic or descriptive ones; created their own narratives inspired by the “frozen moment” in the artwork; and intricately woven together aspects of the artist’s biography (or the artist’s perspectives on art or a relevant issue of his/her time) and a particular art work; among yet other approaches. We plan to provide participants with a list of questions–some that ask them to consider various aspects of a particular art work, ways of looking at/seeing it, its setting, and the context of the exhibition as they view the work, and others that ask participants to consider the very nature of ekphrasis itself and the issues that might arise for any poet engaging in it. How might we extend beyond simply representing a representation? What does it mean to “speak for” a work of art, which has its own inherent manner of expression? How might we enter into dialogue or correspondence with the work of art? What is intriguing and valuable about our particular interpretation of a work? What is limiting about it? How is the art work framed by the Latino/a exhibition in which it is included? With such examples, ideas, and questions in mind, participants will try their hands at writing pre-workshop ekphrasis and will also visit the Smithsonian’s exhibition to write in the presence of art works they choose. We’ll also convene to discuss the exhibition, analyze the particular approaches we’ve taken and choices we’ve made, and provide one another with feedback on our writing in progress.”
—Brenda Cárdenas
at Harriet, on the Poetry Foundation website
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The poets who will be joining me in
the workshop are DC-based poets Elizabeth Acevedo, Carlos Parada
Ayala, Carmen Calatayud,
Samuel Miranda, Yvette
Neisser Moreno, and Dan Vera. The out-of-town
poets will include, in addition to myself, John Chávez,
Juan J. Morales,
and Emma Trelles. Emma, who has deep ties to
Miami, will be leading the second ekphrastic workshop in mid-May for a group of
mostly Miami-based Latino/a poets at the Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum
at Florida International University. The plan, as I mentioned, is hold
workshops and other ancillary activities at all future stops.
—Carmen Giménez Smith
at Harriet, on the Poetry Foundation website
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