In honor of National Poetry Month in April, Judy Kaber teams up with Belfast’s Local Color Gallery to present a two-part workshop on ekphrastic poetry, followed by a poetry reading in the gallery where the final poems will be read and displayed next to their inspirational art work.
Kaber is a teacher and writer, as well as former poet laureate in Belfast. She holds a masters of education in teaching language arts from the University of Maine and is a Maine Writing Project fellow. She has published in numerous journals, including Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Atlanta Review, Off the Coast and The Cafe Review. Contest credits include the Maine Postmark Poetry Contest in 2009, the Larry Kramer Memorial Chapbook Contest in 2011, second place in the 2016 Muriel Craft Bailey Contest judged by Marge Piercy, and the Maine Poets Society Prize Contest in 2021 and 2023. She is the author of three chapbooks, most recently “A Pandemic Alphabet.”
The workshops are designed to meet the needs of all levels of writers. During the first meeting, participants will examine ekphrastic poems by other poets, such as Anne Sexton, Robert Hass, William Carlos Williams, W.H. Auden, Derek Mahon, UA Fanthorpe, Janine Pommy Vega and John Stone, and discuss the various approaches used to write about a work of art.
Handouts will be provided to aid participants as they take notes and photographs of work in the gallery. Between the first and second sessions, participants will work on writing a draft of their poem. In the second session, they will share poems with the intent of providing a useful critique. Final drafts of the poems will then be hung on the gallery wall along with the artwork that inspired them and will be read aloud at a reception on April 21.
DETAILS
Session 1: Sunday, April 7, 1 to 3 p.m.
Session 2: Sunday, April 14, 1 to 3 p.m.
Reading: Sunday, April 21, 2 to 3 p.m.
Cost: $40 (covers all sessions). Registration required by April 5 via email at [email protected]. Limited to 12 participants.
Payment may be made by mailing a check to Judy at 37 Oak Hill Road, Belfast 04915, or may be paid on the day of the first session.
Local Color Gallery is located at 135 High St., Belfast. Learn more at localcolorgallerymaine.org, or call 207-218-1249.
Categories: Artists Reception, Belfast, exhibitions, gallery, openings, shows
