Updated on April 4, 2024
Last month, National Poetry Month San Antonio invited the community to write ekphrastic poems in response to artwork in local museum collections. South Texas poets submitted entries inspired by works on view at area museums. We congratulate these winners for their outstanding poems!
Click on the links to see the winners.
Briscoe Museum
McNay Art Museum
Ruby City
San Antonio Museum of Art
The Witte Museum
2024 EKPHRASTIC POETRY CONTEST GUIDELINES FOR ADULTS & YOUTH
San Antonio and South Texas poets! You’re invited to submit poems inspired by artworks from five San Antonio arts institutions. Three Categories: Adults; Youth, ages 13 – 17; Youth, age 12 and under. Contest Opens: February 5, 2024. Submission Deadline: March 8, 2024. There is no entry fee.
2024 Artworks:
- The Briscoe Western Art Museum: Sunday Riding at Mission San Jose, 2014. Gladys Roldan-de-Moras (b. 1965). Oil on linen. 36 x 48 in. 42 ¾ x 54 ½ in. framed. Briscoe Western Art Museum Permanent Collection. Gift of Marrs McLean Bowman in Memory of His Mother Ruth McLean Bowman Bowers. © Gladys Roldan-de-Moras 2014. https://briscoemuseum.org/poetry-contest/
- The McNay Art Museum: Houses on the Hill (1900-1906). Paul Cézanne, French, 1839-1906. Oil on canvas. 23 3/8 x 31 3/8” (59.4 x 79.7cm). Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay. 1950.23 https://collection.mcnayart.org/objects/23/houses-on-the-hill
- Ruby City: Ultimate Joy, 2001, Jim Hodges. Wood, metal panel, ceramic sockets and light bulbs
32 x 64 in. © Jim Hodges, courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels
Linda Pace Foundation Collection, Ruby City, San Antonio, Texas. https://www.rubycity.org/npmsa2024 - San Antonio Museum of Art: Yen Yen Vase with Landscape Decoration. China. Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1661-1722). Porcelain with cobalt blue underglaze. San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Lenora and Walter F. Brown. 2008.21.24
https://www.samuseum.org/events/event/2024-national-poetry-month-ekphrastic-poetry-contest/ - The Witte Museum: Mapa de la Provincia de Texas, 1822. Simon Bourne, copied from Stephen F. Austin’s map. Pen and Ink on Paper. Gift of Mrs. R. W. Morrison. https://www.wittemuseum.org/ekphrastic/
Artworks (best viewed in museums or at museum links) & Contest Guidelines also posted at:
Gemini Ink: https://geminiink.org/?p=9714&preview=true
San Antonio Public Library: https://guides.mysapl.org/poetry/ekphrastic
Arts Alive San Antonio: http://artsalivesa.com/
What & How to Submit:
- Up to two (2) poems (each a maximum of 15 lines including title) written in response to the art. Poems should express how the art puzzles, moves, frightens, enlightens you, etc. Please do not put your name or identifying info on the poem. Do not include artwork image on poem or in email.
- Attach one poem per email in a PDF or Microsoft Word doc or docx to EkphrasticPoetryContest1@gmail.com. Subject line should read: Ekphrastic Poetry Contest Submission (YOUTH or ADULT) – (Title of Selected Artwork).
- In your email include: your name, city & state, phone and email. Youth entries must include age.
SAVE THE DATE! April 27, 2024: Ekphrastic Celebration Reading by winning poets at Ruby City at 10 a.m.
Judges:
Jim LaVilla Havelin, 2024 National Poetry Month coordinator, Eddie Vega, award-winning poet, and Linda Simone, poet, artist, educator, will select up to three poems per artwork for each category.
Winners will be notified via email by March 21 and must attach their winning poem(s) as a PDF in an email to EkphrasticPoetryContest1@gmail.com with email subject line: (ADULT or YOUTH) Winning Poem PDF – (Your Name). Winning poems will be posted at online sites throughout April, National Poetry Month.
