Surprise Ekphrastic Challenge: Birds

The Twittering Machine, by Paul Klee (Switzerland). 1922.

Another surprise ekphrastic challenge!

The theme is "birds."

Winged creatures have captivated humankind from as far back as any records, art, music, words, or relics were made. Art through time gives us a vivid picture of the various ways humans have thought about birds. 

Use these artworks to prompt poetry or prose. You can investigate the artwork thoroughly by any means necessary, or use it as a springboard or scrawl down thoughts from a flight of fancy. Learn more about the artist, or use the picture alone to find a new window into your world and your work.

The Ekphrastic Review invites you to write about all of the artworks for a complete experience.  Looking deeper at art opens unexpected invitations of engagement for writers, and be open to surprising yourself and having different responses, as opposed to just going by initial instinct with what you like immediately or what you find familiar. 

But that said, there are no rules. Do as much or as little as you can.

Don't censor yourself in the process of writing or rewriting, but please, send us only your best ones!

Subject line: Birds -Surprise Challenge Submission

[email protected]

Include a brief bio. 

Deadline: January 31, 2018

Dan Gägon Mask, Ivory Coast. Undated.

Leda and the Swan, be Lelio Orsi (Italy). 1560s.

Hunting Birds at Night, by Jean Francois Millet (France). 1874.

The Goldfinch, by Carel Fabritius (Netherlands). 1654.

Hotel Eden, by Joseph Cornell (USA). 1945.

Self Portrait with Bird, by Dominique Fortin (Canada). Contemporary.

The Magic Circle, by John William Waterhouse (UK, b. Rome). 1886.

World With Wings, by Lorette C. Luzajic (Canada). 2017.

For Sunday's Dinner, by William Michael Harnett (USA, b. Ireland). 1888.

Flamingos, by Sydney Long (Australia). 1902.

Owl in the Bathroom, by Gertrude Abercrombie (USA). 1964.