Luminous Things: Exploring Poems Inspired By Famous Paintings
Class | Registration opens 7/21/2025 9:00 AM
Hybrid: This registration is for in-person at the Shriners Center.
Luminous Things is back! This semester we’re focusing on poems inspired by paintings. Many poets, including W. H. Auden, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Keats, Alan Ginsberg, William Carlos Williams, Anne Sexton, etc., have been inspired by a work of art to write a wonderful poem.
The Coordinators will provide an eclectic selection of such poems. We’ll share our reactions to the poems and to the paintings. We’ll also visit the RISD Museum to select a painting to inspire our own writing, perhaps a short narrative, or a free-verse poem, or other written format. Knowledge of art history or creative writing not required. This second offering of Poems Inspired by Famous Paintings has many new entries on the list of relevant poems.
Format: The coordinators will present examples of ways to respond to poems and paintings as well as options for leading a discussion. Then, either on your own or with a partner, you will have a chance to select a poem from the list, share your responses to the poem and painting, and ask the class about their responses. On week 8 or 9, we will gather at RISD to select a painting that inspires our own written response.
Resources/Expenses: Linda and Karen will provide a list of ekphrastic poems with links to their paintings.
Coordinators Linda Shamoon and Karen Stein, retired URI professors, have coordinated many popular LLC poetry classes.
Linda Shamoon
Linda Shamoon taught courses on writing in electrotonic environments at URI. She has co-coordinated over twenty courses, including numerous iterations of the popular Concerts and Conversations course, and currently heads the LLC Technology Committee.
Karen Stein
Karen Stein is a retired URI professor. She taught American literature and Women’s Studies. Karen serves as a docent at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida. She has co-coordinated many popular LLC poetry classes.