An update from our thirteenth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 18, plus some of the output published below For today’s workshop, Conner chose to focus on “ekphrasis,” meaning a creative interpretation, response, or translation of another work of art. Because ekphrasis has historically referred specifically to the transformation of visual art into poetry, we began class with this concept. First, we looked at Peter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus followed by William Carlos Williams’ poem written in response, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.” Next, we turned to Keats’ classic poem “Ode to a Grecian Urn” in order to see clearer the benefits of ekphrasis. Then, having seen two examples of visual art being transformed into poetry, we looked at an example of the opposite in Charles Demuth’s painting of William Carlos Williams’ poem “The Great Figure,” and William Holman Hunt’s painted rendition of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s lyrical ballad “The Lady of Shalott.” To further illustrate ekphrasis’ power to transform and translate, we looked at painted examples of famous creation myths, one of biblical origin and the other of Japanese. Our final example was Michelangelo’s rendition of God giving life to Adam on the Sistene Chapel. By workshop’s end, we came to the conclusion that, in the words of student Olivia Rhee, ekphrasis “paints words into something new that lets the eyes see instead of imagine.” The Participants: Nova, Audrey, Simran, Emma, Josh, Clara, Penelope, Lina, Alice, Ethan, Ellie, Svitra, Sinan, Shilla, and Olivia The Challenge: Write a story or a poem based on Peter Bruegel’s painting The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Emma Hoff, 9(Bronx, NY) The Price of Free Will Emma Hoff, 9 People are foolish. While fighting, those great grey things climbed onto our heads and begged for air. Eyed from above, clouds were meaningless, wings that had sprouted from spines of swords. A magical thing went limp and floated. Eyed from above, claustrophobic screams and gasps and chokings, wide open mouths, slit open mouths, eyes appearing inside. Little soldiers, clockwork hearts that wish for nothing but blood, blood for new stained wood uniforms. Mussels find hiding in their own kind, they are the moth wings of fishtails. All the instrument plays is a march by Shostakovich or any kind of Tchaikovsky. I hope these composers did not mean to be programmed to the minds of battle, they only dreamed of battles like this one, a woman of candy, climbing up a tower of others. The court jester thought this would be a good place to try out his jokes, but all that is left of him is his hat, his precious hat. Baskets of fish and rice and things, and baby chicks are squishing people (and the baby chicks). The clouds released penguins or puffins, nobody’s sure, the sun has burned them too quickly. People that die look up, they see their last visions of a sunny day, and even that is clouded by fog and red and people blocking other people, and when you are lying on your back while people are stepping on your chest and ignoring you, it is hard to see anything but twisted feet, jumping women in dresses, aprons, you think you saw an apron, but it could have just been your warped point of view showing you the sky that lifts itself higher. You thought you also saw the sky puff its chest, but it was just a shape, like an egg, with eyes where the eyes of a hammer-head shark would be, with teeth and a grin, snatching wings, fairies were here, too. Audrey Tzeng, 12 (Rocklin, CA) The Box Opened Audrey Tzeng, 12 The Box Opened The box must have opened. What else could produce such things? Yes, there’s no better word for them, Some man and some animal. Some half-and-half And some neither at all. They cannot be ordered, cannot be named. Angels stabbing and hacking As man, that fiendish beast, serenely plays on. Who fights for who? They eat each other And yet they are each other. Now my head spins. For we may not even be sure of the supposed “moon” in the background. This painting turns day to night And night to day.
Writing Workshop
Writing Workshop #47: Character Descriptions
An update from our forty-seventh Writing Workshop A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 18, plus some of the output published below At this writing workshop, we looked at some classic art: grotesques by Leonardo da Vinci and portraits by Vermeer and Rembrandt. With these art pieces in mind, William asked the participants to think about the concept of an outline or sketch for characters, and how we might flesh them out later in the writing process. William emphasized how the choices that authors make in describing characters impact the story as a whole and how the reader understands a character. The Challenge: Write a description of a character, beginning with an outline of their face. Then you can move on to other physical characteristics or clothing descriptions. Lastly, if you have time, you may build a story around this character. The Participants: Faiz, Peri, Aditi, Lena D, Nami, Jonathan L, Tilly M, Rachael L, Madeline K, Elbert P, Sierra E, Marissa L, Kate P, Kina S, Liam Peri Gordon, 11(Sherman Oaks, CA) Defined by Suffering by Peri Gordon, 11 What to do with such terrible eyes? They were wide, wet, bloodshot things that stood out even in a crowd of a hundred, and the right one was black and swollen. Below the eyes, the man’s nose, pale and slender, rose from his face, then dipped back down into it only a few centimeters below, unnoticed. The lips were cut up, chapped, and ruined, as the man felt like his heart was. The chin was small and pointed, and the rest of the face was only a bit wider. Around his shoulders was a tiny cloth, which had once been a large rag, which had once been a ripped coat, which had once been a fine coat. What were once smooth, silken pants had had a similar fate. The man was barefoot and gloveless, and his hands and feet were a deep shade of purple from the punishing cold of winter. His fingernails were reduced to nothing, for the man had bitten them anxiously day after day. A once successful businessman, now injured, rejected, and homeless, he thought about standing up straight but no longer had the will even to accomplish this simple task.
How Stories Work-Writing Workshop #12: Metaphor
An update from our twelfth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 11, plus some of the output published below Conner Bassett began our fall session of writing workshops with a question: what does it mean to write fiction or poetry? His answer? To put into language what is inherently nonlinguistic. This definition, he realized, could be simplified into one word—metaphor. From there we defined metaphor (a comparison between two things), using famous phrases such as “Life is a highway” & “All the world is a stage” as examples. Through a reading of Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” we learned how metaphors can help us make abstract concepts into concrete images. To further this point, we looked at two works of art published in the September 2021 Issue of Stone Soup—I Feel Music by Serena Li & The Hidden World by Sabrina Lu. Next, we learned how metaphors can help us understand complex ideas and emotions through a discussion surrounding the line “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!” from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This concept was strengthened by visual metaphors seen in the Egyptian Icon The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Wyeth’s Christina’s World. Finally, we learned how metaphors transform one thing into something completely different so that we can see it in a new way. Examples used to back up this concept were a sentence from John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, a few lines from Sylvia Plath’s poem “Metaphors,” and an advertisement for sunglasses in which lenses were transformed into lemon slices. The Challenge: Two part prompt. First, write a one sentence metaphor about this painting: Norham Castle, Sunrise. Then, write a story or a poem that begins and ends with the same metaphor. The Participants: Emma, Simran, Clara, Sinan, Olivia, Lina, Josh, Ellie, Alice B, Audrey, and Svitra Svitra Rajkumar, 13(Fremont, CA) Free as a Bird Svitra Rajkumar, 13 Feathers flap, determined. Wings glide, graceful. “You can’t be a bird If you don’t fly,” they say. You can’t be a bird if you don’t try. So I watch each baby bird Flap its wings and grow. Soon it flies away But I have no choice But to stay. “Why don’t I go Towards the sky,” they ask. Why can’t I be the bird that Doesn’t Fly.
