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"To find
a delightful writer is a treat; to find an
excellent teacher is a treasure. But to
find both a capable writer and an inspiring teacher in
one person is indeed rare! I have been blessed
to find this exceptional combination in Belinda
Anderson. She's been a part of my life for four
years and I am the richer for it."
--Genevieve Sowards Gillen
EKPHRASTIC WORKSHOP
January,
2021
New
River
Community and
Technical
College
(Greenbrier
Valley Campus)
Anderson
to guide Fantastic Ekphrastic workshop
New River Community and Technical College is offering a
four-week workshop with author Belinda Anderson for the
spring term starting in January. The college also is
offering a new way of attending – from the comfort of
your home using the Zoom conference call option, so you
don’t need high-speed internet to participate.
“Fantastic Ekphrastic” takes a traditional creative
writing device and expands it to help advance writers of
all experience levels. Writers can experiment in the
genres of fiction, nonfiction and poetry or focus on one
mode.
“I thought it would be fun to explore a classic concept
in a new way,” Anderson said.
The four-week class will be conducted through one-hour
conference calls that will include lecture, with time
for questions and participant sharing, and group e-mail
follow-up as needed.
“I find the sound of someone’s voice on the telephone
the next best thing to conversing in person,” Anderson
said. “Plus, there’s the benefit of being able to have
that conversation while wearing sweats. If you want to
wear your pajamas during class, go for it.”
The word ekphrasis derives from the Greek rhetorical
exercise of describing art, real or imagined. From the
Poetry Foundation: “a notable example is ‘Ode on a
Grecian Urn,’ in which the poet John Keats speculates on
the identity of the lovers who appear to dance and play
music, simultaneously frozen in time and in perpetual
motion.”
Johannes Vermeer’s painting titled “Girl with a Pearl
Earring” inspired author Tracy Chevalier to write a
historical novel creating imagined circumstances for the
painter and the model. The novel, in turn, inspired a
play and a film.
“The act of ekphrasis sharpens your descriptive
abilities, which benefits you in all types of writing,”
Anderson said. “As the workshop progresses, you’ll
develop the ability to see how any type of object can
add an important element to your work.”
Participants will be emailed the conference call number
and access code after registering for the class.
For College information or to register visit
www.newriver.edu/community or contact Gloria Kincaid
(304-793-6101, gkincaid@newriver.edu).
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