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.

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Building a book like this takes a significant amount of time, effort, and patience, but what a joy it has been. I was privileged to have Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda and Sofia Starnes, both former Poets Laureate of Virginia, as teammates through the more difficult phases of the endeavor: collecting, reviewing, selecting, editing, and assembling the manuscript. Also, I relied on the backing and support of PSV President, Terry Cox-Joseph, who wrote the Preface, an important ingredient of the book. The expertise and guidance of our publisher, Jeanne Johansen, of High Tide Publications, would take us successfully across the finish line.
The Centennial Anthology contains several sections. Part One consists of the poetry of 110 contemporary poets, while Part Two features poems by 36 poets from six previous PSV anthologies. The four appendices provide (A) information regarding previous PSV Presidents, (B) the contributions of the various Poets Laureate of Virginia, (C) brief biographies of the participating poets, and (D) acknowledgments of prior publication of the poems. The Table of Contents lists the poets alphabetically.
I hope that all who pick up this book will drink deeply of the beauty, talent, and creativity that our poets have placed at your disposal. We are proud to have it represent a poetic standard for the next one hundred years of The Poetry Society of Virginia.
Edward W. Lull
Editor