Creative Writing Workshop: Ekphrastic Poetry

In this creative writing workshop using Rodney McMillian: A Son of the Soil as inspiration, Columbia’s poet laureate, Jenn Bartell Boykin, leads an exploration of the poetic form of ekphrasis, a vivid description of a scene or work of art. Participants narrate and reflect on McMillian’s works, amplifying and expanding meaning through their own original poetry.

Abstract art and poetry often challenge us to look beyond what is immediately apparent, and it can be difficult to decipher exactly what an artist is trying to convey. Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” Ekphrastic poetry can help to better understand or connect with visual art.  

Designed for beginners and experienced poets alike, this workshop is open to high school students as well as adults. Participants are encouraged to bring their favorite writing materials: pen, pencil, notebook, etc. 

$25 / $20 for members / $10 for students. 

Registration required as space is limited. Gallery admission included. Students: apply code 15OFFSTUDENT during checkout. Be sure to bring a valid student ID to the workshop for verification.

Member Registration

Public Registration

Jennifer Bartell Boykin is the poet laureate of the City of Columbia, South Carolina. She was born and raised in Bluefield, a community of Johnsonville, S.C. She received both her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with a poetry concentration (2014) and her Master of Library and Information Science (2024) from the University of South Carolina. Boykin is the author of two books of poetry, Traveling Mercy (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and Only Believe (The Word Works, 2024), a winner of The Hilary Tham Capital Collection. Both are published under the name Jennifer Bartell. Her poetry has been published in Obsidian, Callaloo, pluck!, The Raleigh Review, kinfolks, Jasper Magazine, the museum americana, Scalawag, and Kakalak, among others. She is a 2023 Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellow and founded and organized the Inaugural Soda City Poetry Festival in June 2024. An alumna of Agnes Scott College, Boykin has additional fellowships from Callaloo and The Watering Hole. She is an award-winning educator who taught English for 16 years and was the 2019–2020 Teacher of the Year at Spring Valley High School, where she is currently a school librarian.