S157.
“Something Done to Something, with Something, by Someone”: Teaching Ekphrasis
Saturday, March 26, 2022
12:10 pm to 1:25 pm
W.J.T. Mitchell describes ekphrasis as “something done to something, with something, by someone, for someone.” Teaching and writing ekphrastic poetry elicits questions about power, positionality, knowledge, appropriation—and the anxiety and pleasure of influence. How is the genre evolving and creating innovative ways for poetry to respond to the visual arts? Four writer-teachers who teach and write ekphrasis discuss their progressive pedagogy that imagines this genre in radical, inclusive ways.
Participants
Camille Guthrie is the director of undergraduate writing initiatives at Bennington College. She teaches essay writing, critical theory, ekphrasis, poetry, gender studies, grammar, and first-year writing. She is the author of four books of poetry, including Diamonds (2021).
Phillip B. Williams is the author of the poetry collections Mutiny and Thief in the Interior. A recipient of a Whiting Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Lambda Literary Award, he currently teaches at Bennington College and Randolph College low-res MFA.
Khaled Mattawa's latest collection of poetry is Mare Nostrum from Sarabande Books. He teaches in the MFA program at the University of Michigan and is the editor of Michigan Quarterly Review.
Shin Yu Pai is the author of many books including Virga, ENSO, and AUX ARCS. She has taught at Vermont College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, and was a Peter Taylor Fellow at Kenyon College.
B.K. Fischer
