Quilted Poems: An Ekphrastic Collaboration of Poets and Quilters

Quilted Poems was created by an ekphrastic collaboration of poets from the Poetry Society of Virginia, and quilters from Virginia. Ekphrastic is Greek for to describe or explain . The quilts in this book visually describe poems written to inspire quilters. It contains 65 poems and images of 45 quilts. Some of the quilts were designed as concrete representations of the quilter’s chosen poem, others used abstract symbols or abstract quilt block designs. The poems address various subjects including nature, the process of quilting and quilters, and spirituality.

This unique book is a wondrous melding of visual and literary art. While each poem and quilt can be viewed and appraised individually, your original perspective is further enhanced or shifted askew when merging the two mediums. This careful pairing of images and words creates an artistic synergy that is a treat to behold.
-Bill Glose, author of Postscript to War , Virginia Walkabout , Personal Geography , Half a Man , and The Human Touch

All that we piece together from threads and fragments, stories and words- surely, work that bears the signatures of time and love. We are grateful for the poets and quilters who give us an abundance of such gifts through this anthology.

-Luisa A. Igloria, 20th Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia