Picture a Poem: Ekphrastic and Other Poems - Paperback

by Caroline Giles Banks (Author)

"Picture a Poem: Ekphrastic and Other Poems" features poems written in response to paintings, sculptures and photographs, many of which are in museums in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Paintings and photographs by Marc Chagall, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Gwathmey, Lee Friedlander, among others, inspired many of the ekphrastic poems. Some of the poems reference sculptures by artists who worked in the pre-modern era and are therefore unknown to us in the early 21st century. Other poems in the collection, while not written in response to specific works of art, reveal the author's use of strong visual imagery in her creative process. The impermanence of life, love, beauty, the body, art and language is a common theme throughout the poems. Caroline Giles Banks voices compassion for those whose lives are unsettled by displacement, discrimination and disillusionment. NOTE TO READERS: Check the Notes Section of the book to find the artist and title of the art piece upon which each ekphrastic poem is based. You may then view an image of the art work online while reading the poem.

Author Biography

Caroline Giles Banks, born in Boston, Massachusetts, is a cultural anthropologist by training and profession. Dr. Banks was on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Luther college in Decorah, Iowa. Her poetry, written in several genres, is often informed by her anthropological training and research. She is the author of "Warm Under the Cat"; "The Clock Chimes"; "The Clay Jar"; and "Tigers, Temples and Marigolds", collections of haiku, senryu and haibun poems. "The Weight of Whiteness: A Memoir in Poetry" was published in 2012. Her award-winning poetry has been published in many anthologies, literary magazines and journals. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.