Where Poetry & Art Collide

I’ve been writing poems since I was in high school, and over the years I co-founded The Poetry Forum (now the Midwest’s longest running reading series), gave lots of readings, had poems published in scores of literary journals, led workshops, and produced 5 chapbooks and a book-length poetry collection. Many people—mentors, fellow poets, journal editors, friends, family—have provided me with many forms of continuing and meaningful support.
 
For years I’ve been active in multi-disciplinary arts events. I organized central Ohio poets to write poems in response to artworks in the Columbus Cultural Arts Center’s “You Call That Art?” show in 2013; the reading included performances by the Columbus Modern Dance Company. In 2017, I curated the Cultural Arts Center's exhibition “The Sight of Music,” for which artists created works in response to aspects of music. I've performed with jazz musicians. My work in the past several years has included an increasing number of ekphrastic poems—descriptions of or responses to visual art. As part of my interest in ekphrasis, I’ve completed about 40 of these and have compiled them into a collection titled “A Language the Image Speaks.”

Here's a link to 3 of the manuscript's poems: http://www.11thourpress.com/poems.html
 

                                                                                                  Something Happened/collage by Jo Dickinson


Journals and books of ekphrastic poetry are rarely able to include pictures of artworks. It’s beyond their means to obtain reproduction rights to print images. Since I envisioned this project nearly 4 years ago, however, I’ve been committed to including high-quality reproductions of the paintings and photographs on pages opposite the poems inspired by them.
 
Some of the images are those of famous photographers whose work is in the collections of well-known museums, others are paintings by famous artists, and nearly half are works by central Ohio painters and photographers. I’ve been blessed to receive permission from artists, museums, university collections, and others who own copyrights to these images to use reproductions of the art in the book at no cost, and I’m grateful for their generosity. Others, however, require a fee to reproduce images they control.
 
I've put my own money into this, and I'm trying to raise another $1,600 to secure reprint rights to those artworks that require reproduction fees. Hence this GoFundMe campaign. I don’t expect to obtain substantial donations without offering something in return. Any contributions will be appreciated, but for donations in/above the amounts below, I’m offering:
 
                       
$250     A reading in your home (within Ohio) for you and your friends,
                 a copy of the book, and acknowledgment in the book

                                                                   OR

                  A poem written specifically for a special person in your life
                  (many of you know that this is way outside my usual acceptable
                  limits), a copy of the book, and acknowledgment in the book
 
$100      A signed & numbered copy of my limited-edition broadside/
                  poster “Speak,” (12” x 18”) on art-quality paper suitable for
                  framing, a copy of the book, and acknowledgment in the book
                                                     
$50         A copy of my poem “Border Crossing” (8-1/2” x 14”) a love
                 poem perfect for a wedding or anniversary gift, or simply an
                 I-love-you-baby present, also on art-quality paper
                                     
 $35       Any one of my chapbooks you don’t already own
 

Your support, regardless of amount, will allow me to realize a personal artistic goal that will test whether a picture really is worth a thousand words (or fewer). I’m excited about what I’ve been able to accomplish so far, and I’m aiming for a mid-June publication date. Your donation before May 15 will allow me to meet that deadline and attain an artistic goal I've been striving toward.  And your gift will do more than support this book. It will encourage greater collaboration and dialogue between artists in ways that enhance art's impact in our lives.
 
I hope you'll consider sharing this appeal with others. I’m thankful for the life I have. I believe, and often tell others, that no one with my life gets to complain. For any donation you’re able to make, you have my abiding gratitude. I look forward to sharing the book with you.