Another Conference Ekphrastic

The artists painting Cuba from memory
or from photographs, from family stories
of the exodus, from dreams, know
their bloodlines are not clear. The work
is mongrel, neither Cuban nor American.

--the first lines of Uprooted from Finding Cuba, Jill Baumgaetner's collection of poems. The piece is what Hollander would call "notional ekphrasis."

Wheaton Writing and Lit Fest

I'm taking part the next two days in Wheaton College's Writing and Literature Festival. The line-up includes Pulitzer Prize winning poet Carl Dennis along with Robert Siegel, Susanna Childress, Jill Peláez Baumgaertner, Brett Foster, and Mary Brown from Indiana Wesleyan University.

I'll be riffing on "Poetry and Song" at 2:00 p.m. today, singing a hymn or two, reading one or two older poems, and then finishing up with my odd, poetic Bach obsession. Hope to see some of you there.

dw