Ekphrasis is a Greek term referring to a creative process in which one art medium relates or responds to another. Poet and artist Karen Dennison's recent compilation Free-fall is an exploration of this idea, in which visual art inspires poetry, which in turn inspires visual art, and so on.

Free-fall is a continuation of the chain of responses in the Book of Sand and Blueshift pamphlets. It begins with a poem in response to Blueshift’s final piece, Disappointment, by Sam Smith. This poem was given to an artist to respond to, whose artwork was given to a different poet to respond to and so on, resulting in a sequential series of poetry and art.

Lois Cordelia is one of a number of visual artists whose work features in Free-fall. Lois created this mixed-media illustration, "Reveal the Secret Night", in response to Karen Dennison's poem "This Tree", incorporating an intricate paper-cut design. Lois's illustration then inspired the poem "Changeling" by Rosie Sandler, and so the ekphrasis continued to evolve between visual art and poetry.


Free-fall features poems by Oz Hardwick, Pam Thompson, Karen Dennison, Rosie Sandler, Alex Toms, Caroline Davies and Kerry Hammerton, and artworks by Hannah Willow, Tara Pandey, Lois Cordelia, Sam Smith, Julia Watson, Heidi Jukes and Karen Dennison.

"A long time in the meticulous making, this very, very beautiful collection of words and pictures, lovingly curated by Karen Dennison, is a thing of beauty. Treat yourself."

It is available to buy for £5 per copy via Karen Dennison's website: https://kdennison.wordpress.com/free-fall/