‘I am not a painter, I am a poet, Why? I think I would rather be a painter, but I am not’, Frank O’Hara writes in his poem, ‘Why I Am Not a Painter’. Art and poetry, artists and poets have long been considered fruitful allies, as though the two forms share something fundamental that does not belong to other disciplines or modes of making. What might this be? What does it mean to describe something as ‘poetic’? What is the relationship between poetry and ‘art writing’ or ‘art criticism’? What is the historical role of the ekphrastic, or the place of art works in poems, text and language in art? What processes and practicalities arise when visual artists and writers collaborate?

‘Where’s SARDINES?’: Art and Poetry in Conversation is a daylong symposium that will address these questions, among many others. The event brings artists and poets together; our aim is to generate critical and specific discussion about the relationships between art and poetry — past, present and future.

The keynote speaker is Lavinia Greenlaw. Other speakers include: Rachael Allen, Vahni Capildeo, Kayo Chingonyi, Daisy Lafarge, Quinn Latimer, Catrin Morgan, Holly Pester, Max Porter, Keston Sutherland and Jane Yeh.

Learn more here.