In this one-day course, participants will read examples of ekphrastic writing from across genres and go through the process of creating an ekphrastic essay. They’ll learn how to write about art using the five senses and concrete, specific details and how to research the history of an art piece. Participants will then weave their description, research, and a personal experience together to generate an ekphrastic personal essay.

Students should come to class with an image of a piece of art that has personal meaning to them. This course is open to writers of all genres and skill level, 18+.

Students will leave this class with:

A first draft of an essay that engages with a work of art
An understanding of how ekphrasis can be used to break through writer’s block
Concrete strategies for blending research with personal stories

Jehanne Dubrow is the author of nine poetry collections and three books of creative nonfiction, including most recently Exhibitions: Essays on Art & Atrocity (University of New Mexico Press, 2023), and Taste: A Book of Small Bites (Columbia University Press, 2022). Her next book of poems, Civilians, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in 2025. Her writing has appeared in New England Review, POETRY,  and The Southern Review, among others. She is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Texas.