Ekphrasis, a style of poetry that aims to describe a work of visual art in a way that deepens the experience of both poem and image, is a word that bounced around quite often in The Virginia Normal’s office this past year. We decided, in collaboration with Sigma Tau Delta and the Department of Art & Design, to flip this idea around. What if we started with student poetry and asked student artists to create visual interpretations of the poems? The result of this experiment is the first annual Ekphrasis in reVerse Exhibition. In the fall, we asked for submissions from student poets. In the spring, student artists interpreted the selected poems for an exhibition that took place in Petersburg, VA throughout March 2017. In this issue of TVN@VSU, we present the poetry and art from this exhibition.
Also in this issue, we celebrate the winners and honorable mentions of the 2017 VSU Student Writing Contest, judged by the faculty of the Department of Languages & Literature. We also honor the winner of the 2017 Great Book Essay Contest, a contest that asked students to submit a personal essay about their experience with a great book.
Finally, this issue closes with a selection of creative writing from VSU students.
This issue would not be possible without support from the Department of Languages & Literature, the Department of Art & Design, the Writing/ePortfolio Studio, Dr. Leah Thomas, Anh Do, Dr. Freddy Thomas, the staff of The Virginia Normal, and, of course, the students of Virginia State University. Thank you, and enjoy reading.