Ekphrasis in Poetic Inquiry: Engaging with Images
5 Tuesdays April 22-May 20, 2025 (online)
18:30-20:00 (London Time)
Cost**: £120 (15% off for LABRC Members)
Format: Online
About the Course:
This ekphrastic writing course offers a dynamic and immersive experience in poetic inquiry, guided by poet, editor, and literary/Jungian scholar Dr. Roula-Maria Dib. Using innovative and engaging prompts, the sessions will explore poetry as a transmedial dialogue between visual and verbal art forms, deepening your creative and reflective practice.
Through a series of writing exercises, you will engage with ekphrasis as a poetic inquiry method, drawing on Jungian Arts-Based Research to generate your own poems in response to paintings, photographs, tarot cards, dreams, masks, amorphous shapes, and even synchronicities. You will discover how ekphrastic poetry extends beyond creative expression, acting as a transformative conversation that unlocks deeper self-awareness, enriches artistic interpretation, and creates new modes of knowledge.
Blending theory, practice, and workshopping, this course will encourage you to examine how different ways of contemplating and engaging with images shape the language and meaning of your poetry. We will also explore imagistic, ekphrastic, and dream poems, analyzing how the psyche connects with visual stimuli and translates them into poetic form.
Whether you are a poet, artist, researcher, or simply curious about the interplay of word and image, this course offers a unique journey into creativity, symbolism, and poetic transformation.
What you will get:
- A certificate of completion from the LABRC
- An opportunity to publish your work in literary magazines (including Indelible) and to participate at one of Indelible’s online or in-person poetry reading events
- A wealth of knowledge and new skills from sources, discussions, and practice, which you may develop into a conference paper, integrate into your research (eg: thesis), or publish as an article/book chapter.
- Become part of a new writing community by meeting fellow poets from different levels of poetry writing skills. In other words, like-minded friends who may collaborate with you in future research/writing projects.
- Hone your poetry writing skill by receiving support and inspiration for exploring and developing your craft.
- Voucher for one free access to a paid Indelible event
Who is it for?
This course is for anyone who:
- Would like to learn more about the relationship between poetry, psyche, and image
- Has an interest in the dialogue between the mediums of poetry and visual art
- Who is curious to see what and how we can learn from the practice of writing poetry by working with images
- Who would like to attempt, practice, or refine their existing image-inspired poetry writing skills
- Who likes to be part of an awesome writing community and meet other like-minded poets
Roula-Maria Dib, PhD, FRSA is an award-winning scholar, poet, and editor whose work bridges literature, creative writing, and Jungian psychology. She is the founding director of the London Arts-Based Research Centre and the editor-in-chief of Indelible, a literary and arts journal. Dr. Dib holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Leeds and is a recipient of the UK Global Talent Visa, endorsed by the British Academy in recognition of her contributions to academia. She is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and her work has also earned her the British Council’s Alumni 2022 Award for Culture and Creativity. Her work explores the rich connections between creative expression and transdisciplinary scholarship.
Her book, Jungian Metaphor in Modernist Literature (Routledge, 2020), was shortlisted for the International Association for Jungian Studies book awards, and her poetry collection, Simply Being (Chiron Press, 2021) has garnered critical acclaim, with poems nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
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