Exploring the history and diverse landscapes of the state of Mississippi, artists Maude Schuyler Clay and Ann Fisher-Wirth illuminate the multifaceted and at times complicated history of the Magnolia State through photographs and poems in their new book and accompanying exhibition, Mississippi.

A master of ekphrastic poetry, Fisher-Wirth describes the process of creating her vivid poems as listening to the voices that spoke to her as she first viewed Clay’s equally expressive photography. While the poems may be voiced from the perspective of a featured subject, they are inspired more often by the stories of actual people and experiences. In Mississippi, the duo crafts an honest and personal story of the Delta, blending narrative verse with hauntingly ethereal images of expansive fields, densely wooded swamps, and fiery evening skies.

What is Ekphrasis?

Ekphrasis is a vivid, often dramatic description of or commentary on a visual work of art. The literary devise dates to ancient Greece. Some of the earliest and most cited accounts of ekphrasis can be found in the Homer’s The Iliad and Virgil’s The Aeneid.