Ekphrasis and the Archives

A masterclass with Cassandra Atherton and Paul Hetherington

Ekphrastic writing – writing inspired by visual art – is now being widely written around the world. Originally, this form focused on paintings and sculpture but it has now opened out to explore the process of writing about a vast array of artforms such as photographs, artefacts, film, digital images and even landscapes and maps.

Cassandra’s and Paul’s workshop will focus on practical ways of creating successful ekphrastic microliterature (prose poetry and flash fiction), including harnessing visual imagery and new ways of ‘seeing’. It will consider various existing ekphrastic works and provide participants with the opportunity to write their own ekphrastic microlit.

Because ekphrastic writing often explores people’s connection to the world, archives can provide a rich repository to inspire the ekphrastic process. This workshop introduces participants to an array of material from Sydney archives and museums to inspire ekphrastic microlit. This Masterclass is primarily designed for writers who are looking to incorporate ekphrasis into their practice. A list of journals and other avenues for the publication of ekphrastic microlit, for those who are interested, will be provided.

Image credit: a mural by unknown artist picturing a street in Darlinghurst. Photo: Frances Mocnik

About the presenters:

Cassandra Atherton is a widely anthologised and award-winning Australian prose poet. Her books of prose poetry include Exhumed, (2016) Trace, (2016) Pre-Raphaelite (2018), Leftovers (2020) and the co-authored Fugitive Letters (2020). She is a commissioning editor of Westerly magazine, series editor for Spineless Wonders Microlit anthologies and associate editor at MadHat Press (USA). She co-authored Prose Poetry: An Introduction (Princeton University Press, 2020) and co-edited the Anthology of Australian Prose Poetry (Melbourne University Press, 2020). With Paul Hetherington, she is co-writing a book, Ekphrastic Poetry: An Introduction for Princeton UP. Cassandra is a Professor of Writing and Literature and currently acting Head of the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University, Melbourne Australia.

Paul Hetherington is Emeritus Professor of Writing at the University of Canberra. He has written or edited 44 creative and critical books and numerous academic chapters and articles. He is co-founding editor of the international online journal Axon: Creative Explorations. He founded International Poetry Studies at his university in 2013, and also founded the international Prose Poetry Project in 2014. He has published 17 full-length collections of poetry, including Ragged Disclosures and Her One Hundred and Seven Words, as well as the collaboratively written Fugitive Letters.

About this project:

This event is part of the Imaginative Recreation Project presented by Spineless Wonders with the support of the City of Sydney's cultural grant. The year-long project about lesser-known aspects of Sydney's history features public talks, writing workshops, live performances as well a Sonic City – Sydney, a digital map with location-based audio stories. A call out for startling stories about Sydney's past is currently open. Entries are free and the deadline is 17 December 2023. For more information go to the Spineless Wonders website, www.shortaustralianstories.com.au