Immature Poets Network is delighted to team up with Artlyst, the Uk's leading fine art information website, to claiming you to write ekphrastic poems. What is an ekphrastic verse form? Keep reading…

This challenge is now closed. Thanks to everyone who submitted, and a huge congratulations to the winners and the poets on the longlist, whose names and poem titles are below. Yous can read the winning poems in the sidebar of this folio, and find the winners of the developed competition here.
ist prize: Elsie Hayward, 'Cartoon'
iind prize: Anne Kwok, 'Bride of a Brute'
3rd prize: Emma Miao, 'the lake is enough to blind you'
Commended:
Annie Davison, 'Trunk in Exile'
Charlotte Hughes, 'Pink Dress Pastoral'
Esther Kim, 'hangul abecedarian'
Jewel Cao, 'Shibboleth'
Anna Westwig, 'Acquainting an Orange'
Longlist:
Rachel Brooks, 'Ophelia' and 'Nevertheless Life with Fish'
Lok Yin Choi, 'Corpses and Carcinogens'
Divya Mehrish, 'Girl'
Elle Park, 'A Neon Aspiration'
Tabitha Pearson, 'Inside My Caput'
Hilary Tang, 'Expiry, Aged 63'
Clare Zhang, 'Uncolored'
Banksy's Homage to Basquiat at the Barbican, London. Photo: Paul Carter Robinson for Artlyst, 2019.

The claiming: write a poem or poems inspired past a work of visual art, which does non exceed 40 lines.

What is an ekphrastic poem?

In short, an ekphrastic poem is a poem which responds to a piece of work of visual art in a vivid or dramatic way.

You might accept encounter ekphrastic poems earlier – from John Keats' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' to W. H. Auden'south 'Musée des Beaux-Arts', ekphrastic verse has given us some of the nigh historic poems in the English language. In each case, these poems are non just descriptions of the art, but a fresh insight into it, a new world, a stand up-alone work of art that can be read even if yous've never seen the poet'due south inspiration.

We're working with Artlyst, the United kingdom's leading art data website, to inspire you to respond to visual art with your poetry. This Immature Poets Network challenge is open to young people worldwide aged eleven-17, but Artlyst is running a parallel developed Art To Poetry competition for those aged eighteen+. This is the world'southward first international ekphrastic poetry contest, run in clan with The Poetry Order. Find out more here! Whichever age category you fall into, the prompts on this page can inspire your ekphrastic entry to Art to Poetry.

Submit poems of upwards to 40 lines inspired by an artwork (this tin exist painting, sculpture, installation, visual fine art, performance, or video art). We particularly welcome responses to contemporary art.

Photo taken outside on some wooden planked flooring. Two people walk past a giant, brightly decorated flower which leans to one side. The stem is green with yellow spots; the flower itself is pink with black spots on the outside and white with pink spots on the inside, with purple pollen in the centre.
Yayoi Kusama: Flowers That Flower Tomorrow, Victoria Miro Gallery London. Photo: Paul Carter Robinson for Artlyst, 2019.

How to write an ekphrastic verse form

At that place are lots of different ways to approach this claiming!

The first step is to find some art that you detect interesting. Is there a film on your wall that inspires y'all? Accept yous visited a museum or gallery and desire to write a poem about something that yous take seen? Lots of galleries include some of their artwork online. Try scrolling through Artlyst's Instagram for inspiration, or cheque out some of Artlyst'south recommended exhibitions.

Think, yous can respond to any kind of visual art (including painting, sculpture, installation, visual art, performance and video art) so you lot might similar to think more widely than what you might presume lives in an art gallery. To go you started, we've included some photos of artwork throughout this challenge. You might choose to respond to ane of these if you become stuck, and they should also requite you an thought of the range of art that'due south out there, waiting for y'all to write virtually information technology.

Now, how will you respond to it? You lot could…

  • Write a poem in the voice of 1 of the people in the art. Who are they speaking to? Themselves? Someone else in the artwork? The artist? The person looking at the art? Or someone else entirely? Information technology might be especially interesting to hear from someone who seems insignificant or a background grapheme.
  • Tell the story of what happened before the moment captured in the art, or what happened next. Will someone come across the scene? Volition the weather completely change? Or will information technology all
  • Write a poem from the perspective of the artist – before, during, or after the cosmos of the art. Y'all could completely make up their phonation, or you could do a bit of research into the artist's procedure or life!
  • How does your chosen artwork make you lot experience? Write a poem inspired by the feeling and tone of the art. What kind of colours does the artist use? Does the art have a lot of motility in it, or does it feel very still? This kind of response tin can be a bit freer and doesn't have to relate as closely to the source text.
  • Or draw the art in a brilliant way – but remember that the best ekphrastic poems tin be enjoyed without seeing the art. Brand sure that your poem has something in it to captivate your reader – otherwise, they might call back why carp reading this description when I can just go and look at the amazing artwork myself! One manner in is to think most the question, how tin can you possibly convey experiencing your chosen artwork in words? This arroyo might take you lot into some experimental forms – possibly poems with gaps, or concrete poems which rely on the visual dimension.

Of grade, you can reply to your chosen artwork in whatever way you similar – these are all just suggested ways in.

Jeff Koons' Gazing Ball Serial, Frieze Fine art Off-white, London. Photo: Paul Carter Robinson for Artlyst, 2019.

A brief history of ekphrastic poetry

If you want a proper history of ekphrastic poetry, check out this really useful poets.org commodity. Here'southward a actually quick summary…

The word 'ekphrasis' is of Greek origin, then it'south no surprise to find that the tradition of ekphrastic poetry dates dorsum to Aboriginal Greek days. Homer'southward epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey are total of ekphrastic moments, describing shields, tapestries and more. Here'south an extract from a famous bit from The Illiad, translated here past Alexander Pope, describing Achilles' shield:

There shone the epitome of the master-listen:
At that place earth, there heaven, there bounding main he pattern'd;
The unwearied sunday, the moon completely round;
The starry lights that heaven's high convex crown'd…

Read on here. As you tin can encounter, originally ekphrasis tried to report to the reader what the art looked like. Just ekphrastic poetry has gone through many more evolutions… probably the nigh famous ekphrastic poem in English language is 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' past John Keats. In the poem, Keats addresses the urn he is looking at as 'thou'. Here are some of the well-nigh famous lines in it:

         When onetime historic period shall this generation waste product,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

At the start of the poem, Keats vividly describes the scenes painted on the urn, like Homer did – but he keeps thinking, and finishes on this meditation on time, ageing, art and beauty. Fine art volition outlive the artists, he says. And then at that place'due south a very mysterious comment well-nigh dazzler and truth… Throughout the poem, Keats turns a number of questions round and round in his mind – just as you might plough an urn round to see the whole story. Keats' questions are never-ending, just like the story on the urn. Information technology'south so clever that he has chosen a circular artwork to remember about these endless questions in his poetry.

Since Keats, hundreds of poets have written ekphrastic poems. From Elizabeth Bishop'due south 'Large Bad Picture' to William Carlos Williams' 'Landscape with the Autumn of Icarus', Holly Singlehurst'southward 'Hiroshima, 1961' to Clare Pollard's 'The Masterstroke', Grace Nichols' 'Weeping Adult female' to Pascale Petit's 'What the Water Gave Me', the English language language is full of them.

We'll end looking rapidly at Pascale Petit'due south work, as she'due south a contemporary poet who writes lots of ekphrastic poetry. 'What the Water Gave me' is the title of a painting by Frida Kahlo, and also the title of ane of Petit's book and a serial of poems within it. Read her verse form 'What the Water Gave Me (VI)' here. It begins:

This is how it is at the stop –
me lying in my bath
while the waters break,
my skin glistening with amnion,
streaks of starlight.

Now (if you like!) wait at Kahlo'due south painting here.

In her poem, Petit uses lots of imagery that Kahlo uses (particularly the nuptials apparel that comes up later), but it works beautifully whether you know Kahlo's work or not. Yous tin can read an article past Petit about how she wrote the book, and how she establish ways of identifying with Kahlo, here. You might likewise find it interesting to read what has been said near Petit'southward volume, and how she has responded to Kahlo's artwork through her poems:

Some are shut interpretations of Kahlo'due south work, while others are parallels or version homages where Petit draws on her experience as a visual creative person to create culling 'paintings' with words. More than than just a verse biography, this collection explores how Kahlo transformed trauma into art after the artist's near-fatal passenger vehicle accident. Petit, with her vivid style, her feel for nature and her agreement of pain and redemption, fully inhabits Kahlo'south earth. Each poem is an evocation of "how art works on the pain spectrum", laced with splashes of ferocious colour.

Self-portrait by Frida Kahlo

So, how volition you respond to this challenge?

Prizes

Selected poets volition exist published on Young Poets Network and Artlyst, and sent an exclusive Young Poets Network notebook, poetry books and an Artlyst tote bag. The first, second and 3rd prize winners will also receive £100, £50 and £25 in book tokens respectively. A selection of commended poets volition also receive £ten volume tokens.

This challenge will be judged by a panel including Frances Segelman (Lady Petchey) and Young Poets Network.

Frances Segelman (Lady Petchey) is an English language sculptor and philanthropist. She is married to Sir Jack Petchey, founder of the Jack Petchey Foundation, which works with young people across London and Essex.

The awards are sponsored by Artlyst and Frances Segelman (Lady Petchey).

How to enter

This challenge is for writers aged 11-17 based anywhere in the world. You must be anile 11-17 on the deadline of Monday ii March 2020. Poets aged eighteen+ can enter the adult competition here.

You can send a poem written downwardly, or a recording as a video or as an audio file. If yous are sending a written version of your poem, please type it into the body of your electronic mail. If yous are sending a video or audio file, please attach it to the email (making sure it's no bigger than 4MB or it won't come up through) or send united states a link to where we can run across/hear it. Your poem must not exceed 40 lines (the line count excludes title, epigraph and the spaces betwixt stanzas). Please include the proper noun, artist and medium (i.e. sculpture/painting/photograph etc.) of the artwork(southward) your poem(due south) respond(due south) to in your entry. You tin likewise include the date the artwork was created, and any other details nigh it, if you think it will assistance the judges to place the art. Poets who are shortlisted may be invited to send in their prototype before the final judging.

Send your poem(s) to [email protected] with the subject field line 'Art to Verse claiming', along with your name, appointment of birth/age, gender, the county (or, if you're not from the Uk, the country) yous live in, and how y'all plant out about this claiming (east.g. YPN email/Twitter/Instagram/through a teacher/through a friend etc.).This data is used for statistical purposes and assist u.s.a. attain equally broad an audition as possible. These anonymised statistics will be shared with our partner Artlyst.

If you are anile 11-12 on Monday 2 March 2020, you will demand to inquire a parent/guardian to complete this permission form ; otherwise, unfortunately we cannot consider your entry due to data protection laws.

Nosotros welcome entries from schools and youth groups. Employ this class entry form to enter students from your class or group.

If you would similar u.s.a. to add you to the Young Poets Network mailing list, include 'add me to the mailing list' in the subject line of the email. If you would similar us to confirm that we've received your entry, include 'confirm receipt' in the discipline line. You may pass up to provide information about yourself.

Past entering, you give permission for Young Poets Network, The Poesy Order and Artlyst to reproduce your poem in print and online in perpetuity, though copyright remains with you. Please do be certain to check through the general Terms and Conditions for YPN challenges as well.

If yous require this information in an alternative format (such equally Easy Read, Braille, Large Print or screenreader friendly formats), or need any assist with your entry, please contact us at [email protected].

This challenge and the adult award are made possible by Artlyst and Frances Segelman (Lady Petchey) in association with The Poetry Gild.