Poetry in the Galleries

Thursday, September 29, 2022

This digital booklet is an online recording of “Poetry in the Galleries,” a reading of original poetry inspired by art on view at Sheldon Museum of Art. The program, held at the museum on September 29, 2022, featured graduate students in a poetry writing seminar that I taught during the fall semester of 2022.

One of the rewarding practices available to poets is the opportunity to be in creative dialogue with the work of visual artists who trade in the most fundamental conception of the image—as a function of representation, abstraction, or psychological sublimation. The poet, working with language, is constantly faced with the limitations and possibilities inherent in this “conversation.”

As a practice, I build into my poetry writing seminars the opportunity for poets to explore the possibilities inherent in this dialogue. For many years, Sheldon’s rich exhibitions have provided me with an accessible entry into this process. I have relished walking through the light-flooded galleries at Sheldon to discover exciting pathways to my own work. I have watched this same pleasure lift the writing of my students over the years and this booklet offers irrefutable evidence of how powerful the dialogue between art and poetry can be.

The participating poets are a part of Nebraska’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, which attracts some of the most gifted writers emerging today. They hail from across the United States and around the world, bringing rich experiences and passions to this community of artists. Their poems are moving works of great risk and beauty. I trust you will share my admiration and enthusiasm for the poetry that exists in this booklet, even as you get to see some of the splendid work that is on exhibit at Sheldon.

Kwame Dawes, PhD

George W. Holmes University Professor of English

Glenna

Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner

Editor, American Life in Poetry

The poems are published with the permission of the authors. All rights remain with the authors. No part of the poems may be reproduced without prior permission from the authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from Sheldon Museum of Art.

Elizabeth Murray

Chicago, IL 1940–New York City, NY 2007

Wishing for the Farm Oil and canvas on wood 1991

Sheldon Museum of Art University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Gift of the Hormel Harris Foundation, Rhonda Seacrest, Donna Woods, and funds from the Olga N. Sheldon Acquisition Trust, and the Charles W. Rain and Charlotte Rain Koch Gallery Fund U-6778.2018