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.
Madison poets Katrin Talbot, Sara Parrell, Susan Elbe, and Jesse Lee Kercheval launched the Bridge Poetry Series in collaboration with the Chazen Museum of Art. This series creates a venue for poetry in Madison which highlights ekphrastic poetry, or poetry about works of art. This reading is part of a semi-annual program of poetry about art. Twice yearly, about a dozen Wisconsin poets are invited to write poems inspired by works in one of the museum’s temporary exhibitions, directly linking art and poetry.
For the Bridge Poetry Series reading on November 1, 2018, poets wrote in response to Life, Love & Marriage in Renaissance Italy. Their poems are published here. Enjoy.
Is a Box Ever Just a Box?, Sylvia Cavanaugh
To Be Bestowed, Jean Feraca
Middle America, C. Kubasta
Marriage Casket, C. Kubasta
Your Danish Hope Chest, Norman Leer
The End of Summer, 2018, Norman Leer
The Secret Life of Justice, Katrin Talbot
The Tonality of a Fringe, Katrin Talbot
Chased (But Still Chaste) At The Chazen, Ed Werstein