On January 20, 2024 the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters was honored to welcome Madeline Grace Martin and Angela Trudell Vasquez, Madison’s Poet Laureate, for an afternoon of poetry and reflection at the James Watrous Gallery.
Martin’s exhibition Of Words and Trees is a collaboration with her late father, writer and educator Peter Martin. Her recent artwork is infused with his poetry, often transforming selected lines into dramatic hand-cut paper forms. Martin read a selection of poems written by her father, and shared how she connects with his work through her art practice.
Angela Trudell Vasquez often includes ekphrastic poetry – writing poems in response to visual art – in her teaching, and many of her poems explore social justice, family, and generational wisdom. “Art speaks across the ages,” she notes, "and our loved ones live on in art in addition to our hearts.”
This event is a part of Bloom: A Season of Poetry, a series of events connecting and celebrating literary Wisconsin. Other events will include:
Poetry & Pi(e) 2024 will be held in Eau Claire in partnership with Chippewa Valley Writers Guild and the L.E. Philips Memorial Public Library, featuring Nicolas Gulig, Wisconsin Poet Laureate; Max Garland, renowned poet and Academy Fellow; and poet Elan McCallum.
National Poetry Month – April, during which will we amplify poetry events taking place across Wisconsin by showcasing these in our communications and partnering with organizations throughout Wisconsin.
Poetry and the Natural World, with United Sates Poet Laureate Ada Limón – The Academy is bringing Ada to Madison for a reading and a book signing on Thursday, May 23, 2024, 7-8:30 pm, at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. This event focuses on the connections between nature, the changing environment, and poetry. Through Ada’s work, the Academy will bring people together to explore these themes and the intersection of the letters and sciences. Ada will be joined on stage for a Q&A moderated by Kim Blaeser, Academy Fellow and former Wisconsin Poet Laureate.
