Since 2021, Dr. Guertin and Betsy Wilkening have been masterfully blending fiber art with critical scientific topics like global warming, climate change, and environmental threats, all while offering potential solutions. In 2024, Dr. Decker proposed an innovative expansion: a multimodal ekphrastic project that pairs powerful poetry with evocative art.

 

This book is the stunning result. You'll find a diverse array of artwork—from exquisite fiber art quilts to compelling drawings, paintings, and even museum pieces—each carefully selected to illuminate the theme of "making the unseen, seen" and to forge a powerful connection between science and art through the medium of poetry.

 

We strongly encourage you to delve into the Artist/Scientist Statements at the back of the book. These illuminating insights provide brief, accessible explanations that enhance the thoughtful poems, making complex scientific topics relatable and engaging for everyone.

 

It has been a true joy to bring this project to life. We hope you'll return to these pages again and again, discovering new layers of meaning with each reading.

 

Contributors to this book include: Donald Beagle, Emily Bilman, Joyce Brinkman, Sarah-Beth Bradley, Megan Brown, Emma M. Burkett, Samantha Carr, Joan Ellen Casey, Loralee Clark, Tricia Coulson, Marcela Bianchessi da Cunha-Santino, Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Zoey Dudding, Jae Dyche, Christie King Eckardt , Kerry Faraone, Catalina Florina Florescu, Anna Isabella Fratarcangelo, Chapman Hood Frazier, Dennis Owen Frohlich, Gail Giewont, Dr. Michale Glennon, Marjorie Gowdy, Jody Gruendel, Dr. Laura Guertin, Cathy Hailey, Lauren Haygood, Kate Hedstrom, Wayne David Hubbard, Mark Hudson, Piper Jameson, Robert J. Keeler, Dr. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Barbara Martina Linde, Sally Harcum Maxwell, Greg McNamara, Susan Copley Novack, Holly Panzera, Sarah Parker, Tessa Peixoto, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Lynne Schreiber, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ron Smith, Alica Swain, Johannes Vermeer, Betsy Wilkening, Diana Woodcock, Nicole Zwolinski.

The Poetry Society of Virginia is the state’s oldest poetry nonprofit. The organization was founded in May 1923 in Williamsburg. We encourage excellence in writing, reading, study, and the appreciation of poetry through annual poetry contests, an annual anthology, book awards, statewide readings and programs, and literary festivals.
This is the annual anthology for 2024, featuring 54 first and second place poems from 27 adult contest categories. (We also offer an annual student contest, this year with 16 categories, open to students from lower school to 12th grade, but those winning poems do not appear here.)
 
While for some adult categories only society members are eligible to enter, anyone who wishes to join the society, nationally or internationally, may do so, and most categories are open to all, regardless of membership status, upon payment of an entrance fee. Submissions close each year on Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, January 19. Entries are submitted via submittable.com; each category is judged blind by a different judge. Up to four prizes may be awarded per category; the top two in each category are offered publication. Visit https://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/ in the late fall to see the requirements and opportunities for our 2025 contests.
Derek Kannemeyer, Editor