The Bridge Poetry Series highlights an esteemed literary tradition: poetry inspired by art. This series establishes a unique opportunity for Wisconsin poets to write and read ekphrastic poems. In the second century AD, ekphrasis (description) was a rhetorical exercise of creating mental images with words, and it frequently began with a description of artworks.
The program was launched in spring 2012 by Madison poets Katrin Talbot, Sara Parrell, Susan Elbe, and Jesse Lee Kercheval in collaboration with the Chazen Museum of Art. Twice yearly, in conjunction with a spring and fall exhibition, about a dozen poets visit the exhibition, write poems, and then take part in a group reading at the Chazen. The series intends to build bridges between art forms and among poets all over Wisconsin and celebrate diversity of style, affiliation, age, and ethnicity.
For the Bridge Poetry Series reading on November 13, 2014, poets wrote in response to The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection of Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture. Their poems are published here. Enjoy.
Sarah Busse
Robin Chapman
Anne-Marie Cusac
Sarah Gilbert
Jason Gray
Marcos Neroy
Soham Patel
Matt Rogge
Katrin Talbot
Jeanie Tomasko
Robert Vaughan
John Walser
Ed Werstein