During the spring 2024 semester, the Escalette Collection of Art and the Department of English’s Creative Writing Program collaborated to host an Ekphrasis Poetry Competition. Undergraduate and graduate students were invited to submit ekphrasis poetry in any style inspired by artwork from the Escalette Collection on display in Smith Hall and Roosevelt Hall, the home of Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. 

The term ekphrasis has been used since at least the first century CE; the ancient Greeks originally used it as a rhetorical exercise for students, designed to practice descriptive writing. As a meeting of two mediums (verbal and visual), ekphrasis is vividly detailed, [re]creating an image with words. Ekphrasis poetry may narrate or reflect on the “story” presented in a work of art or expand its meaning through imagined connections or personal reflections. 

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the participants for their contributions to the Ekphrasis Poetry Competition, and we congratulate the two winners for their superb writing and engagement with the collection. 

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