Heaven Eleven: the annual ekphrastic marathon!

​Join us for the epic event of the year. It's the annual ekphrastic marathon!

You won't be sorry. It is wild, exhilarating, exhausting and wonderful.

A day of pure creation. Play. Brainstorming. 

​Join us on Sunday, July 12, or do it on your own time over the following week.

This year, to celebrate eleven years of The Ekphrastic Review, an optional Champagne Party follows the marathon on zoom.
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Details are below. Scroll down to register.

Heaven Eleven: an Ekphrastic Marathon
 
Try something intense and unusual- an ekphrastic marathon, celebrating ten years of The Ekphrastic Review. 
 
Join us on Sunday, July 12 2025 for our  annual ekphrastic marathon. This year we are celebrating eleven years!!!!!

This is an all -day creative writing event that we do independently, together.

Take the plunge and see what happens!
 
Write to fourteen different prompts, poetry or flash fiction, in thirty minute drafts. There will be a wide variety of visual art prompts posted at the start of the marathon. You will choose a new one every 30 minutes and try writing a draft, just to see what you can create when pushed outside of your comfort zone.
 
We will gather in a specially created private Facebook page for prompts, to chat with each other, and support each other. 
 
Time zone or date conflicts? No problem. Page will stay open afterwards. Participate when you can, in the week following the 12th. The honour system is in effect- thirty minute drafts per prompt, fourteen prompts. Participants can do the eight hour marathon in one or two sessions at another time and date in the week following July 12.  . 
 
Polish and edit your best pieces later, then submit five for possible publication on the Ekphrastic site.
 
One poem and one flash fiction will win $100 CAD each.
 
Last year this event was a smashing success with hundreds of poems and stories written. Let's smash last year out of the park and do it even better this year!
 
Marathon: Sunday July 12, from 10 am to 6 pm EST (including breaks)
(For those who can’t make it during those times, any hours that work for you are fine. For those who can’t join us on July 12, catch up at a better time for you in one or two sessions only, as outlined above.)

Champagne Party: at 6.05 pm until 7. 05 on Sunday, July 12, join participants on Zoom to celebrate an exhilarating day. Bring Champagne, wine, or a pot of tea. We'll have words from The Ekphrastic Review, conversation as a chance to connect with community, and some optional readings from your work in the marathon.   
 
Story and poetry deadline: July 31, 2026
Up to five works of poetry or flash fiction or a mix, works started during marathon and polished later. 500 words max, per piece. Please include a brief bio, 75 words or less
 
Participation is $20 CAD (approx. 14.50 USD). Thank you very much for your support of the operations, maintenance, and promotion of The Ekphrastic Review, and the prizes to winning authors.

If you are in hardship and cannot afford the entry, but you want to participate, please drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll sign you up. 
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Selections for showcase and winning entries announced sometime in September.

​Sign up below!

Heaven Eleven: the annual ekphrastic marathon

CA$20.00

Celebrating the eleventh birthday of The Ekphrastic Review! It's the event of the year, our annual ekphrastic marathon.

Each year, writers around the world spend a day writing ekphrastic poems and stories. We work asynchronously from wherever we are: fourteen drafts, one every 30 minutes. Choosing from a wide selection of diverse artworks, you free write drafts, starting a new sprint every thirty minutes.

The goal of the marathon is to finish it. It's an incredibly intense experience! It's an opportunity to be immersed in art, spend a whole day in pure creation, and to explore, play, and invent. You will surprise yourself and write unexpected things.

From your fourteen drafts, you have the option of polishing and revising, then submitting five works before July 31. A selection of finalists and one winner in the flash fiction category and the poetry category will be published in The Ekphrastic Review. The winning entry in poetry and in flash fiction will each receive $100CAD prize.

Following the marathon itself will be an optional Champagne Party on zoom to celebrate our hard work. This will be an informal chat and chance to connect and celebrate with the community.

For those who can't make it on July 12 or are unable to spend 8 hours, alternate options are in place. You can do the marathon in two parts over the next week on your own schedule.

Join us!

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