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zenaedwardsis

Comic Sequential Art and Poetry

Updated: Aug 12

This month, on Poets Built It Online Community, a hashtag challenge first on Poets Built It Instagram to introduce a workshop program called 'Poetry Art Story'.




In the ever-evolving landscape of creative expression, I am always seeking innovative ways to inspire and use poetry fro creative fulfilment.

As keen reader of graphic novels, I have enjoyed the work of Alan Moore's The Watchmen, Aron McCruder's The Boondocks, the precedent setting comic story elling of of Will Eisner, and the autobiographical and well rounded characters of Alison Bechdel



Each panel encapsulates a moment—a visual narrative that evokes emotions, themes, and character dynamics. The challenge lies in responding to these panels with poetry that captures the essence of the imagery presented. This exercise encourages not only individual creativity, but also a dialogue between visual and written art forms.




The idea is to caption a line of 3 images with 2 - 4 lines of poetry to tell poetic story of the scene before you. Consider this a snapshot moment in time that holds plenty of story. What would you write for these images? Each of these could stand alone but what could be the common thread? These are some of the things we will be exploring in the Poetry Art Story Workshops.


I'm running a Poetry ART Story course on the Poet Built It Online Community to coincide with the media challenge. Follow the hashtag #PoetryARTstoryPBI to see the regular image posts.


When you take part in the challenge:

  1. Search for a theme within the panels: The choice of narrative can be monumental, touching upon themes of identity or adventure.

  2. Respond with poetry in the comments section: Write your poetry response in the comments section of the posts

  3. Tell the Story: Some of the panels have a progressive story, as the scene reveals more in the following frame of the ‘panel’. Write up to 4 lines per panel. Your style can range from free verse to structured forms. It’s up to you.

  4. Tell a friend: Let people know using hashtag #PoetryARTstoryPBI


I look forward to the workshop program, that I have developed for this Poets Built It challenge - #PBIPoetryARTStory - starting soon! Watch this space and sign up for updates.

~Z~

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