The Hudson Valley Writers Guild and the Upstate Artists Guild are excited to work together again to present this opportunity for collaboration between poets and visual artists in the Capital District. Poets are being asked to submit up to 2 poems by May 31 for consideration for possible inclusion in a visual art exhibit in the Fall. The poems selected will be made available to visual artists to hopefully inspire them to create work to be displayed with the poem in the exhibit.
Background
“Ekphrastic art” is defined as the response of an artist in one medium to a work of art by an artist in another medium. Its more common manifestation is in poetry written about visual art, e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings, sculpture. Poetic License is a project that turns that around, giving local visual artists an opportunity to respond to the work of poets.
For the fourth year now, inspired by a project originated by the Poetry Barn in West Hurley, NY & the Arts Society of Kingston (ASK), we have created our own version of this project called Poetic License.
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild & the Upstate Artists Guild are excited to work together again to present this opportunity in 2025 for collaboration between poets and visual artists in the Capital District.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for poems (or an excerpt from a longer poem) that are image-driven, that present a narrative or a written description containing images that arise from our senses, or as poet William Carlos Williams famously said, “No idea but in things.” The images can come from the “real world,” or the world of fantasy, from dreams, be in color or in black & white, but the writing should be such that makes the reader see, hear, smell, taste, feel, etc. what the poet experienced. Please note we are not looking for ekphrastic poems.
If selected by a visual artist, your poem will be displayed along with the artwork it inspires at an exhibit in the Fall at a venue(s) to be determined. The number of poems selected will be based upon the size of the venue and what it will be able to fit in, & not all work selected by the editors may be selected by an artist. See the Guidelines below, which will also be posted on the website of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild www.hvwg.org and on poeticlicensealbany.com
Guidelines
- Poems must be no longer than 150 words, and no more than 25 lines long.
- Poems will be considered whether they are previously published or unpublished work.
- Send up to two (2) poems in the body of an email titled “2025 Poetic License”
- Include your name, address, email address, and phone number in your email — no bio.
- Send your email to [email protected] by midnight, EST, on May 31, 2025.
- Judges will be local poets & members of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.
- Please note: Your poem may be accepted by the editors but not selected by one of the artists.
For additional information contact Dan Wilcox at [email protected]
