Art & Words 2020

The Art & Words Show may be different this year, but it will go on. I’m thrilled to have selected this year’s participants–ten writers and ten visual artists–and to have scheduled the show for Saturday September 26 from 6-9PM at Art on the Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas.

However, the world may not be back to normal operations by then. In that case, rest assured, we will figure out an online option of some sort, working with the writers and artists to figure out the best solution.

For more info on how the show works, visit this page, but basically: ten visual artists and ten writers will use one another’s work as inspiration. The resulting twenty pairs of art & words will be on display at the gallery (or online) for one week following the opening reception.

Below, I present to you the writers and artists who will be part of 2020!

Writers

Michelle Muenzler, known at local science fiction and fantasy conventions as “The Cookie Lady”, writes things both dark and strange to counterbalance the sweetness of her baking. Her work is in numerous science fiction and fantasy magazines, and she takes immense joy in crinkling words like little foil puppets.

  • Jerri Bourrous (Nacogdoches, TX)

Jerri Bourrous is a graduate of the Masters of Creative writing program at Stephen F. Austin University where she currently teaches. She lives in Nacogodoches, Texas, with her two dogs.

  • Fakoyede Seun (Lagos, Nigeria)

Fakoyede Seun is a Nigerian writer and school teacher. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Sand Magazine, Slice Magazine, Bacopa Literary Review, and Vinyl Poetry.

Michael Stalcup is a Thai-American poet living as a missionary in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife and three young children. He learned poetry from good Hip-Hop, the Bible, and really old sonnets — and loves seeing visual arts and poetry join forces. You can find more of his work at michaelstalcup.com.

Matthew Pitt is Associate Professor of English at TCU and author of two story collections: These Are Our Demands, Midwest Book Award winner; and Attention Please Now, winner of the Autumn House Prize. Individually-wrapped stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. His problematic poems appear exclusively in private notebooks.

Kelly Talbot has been an editor for Wiley, Macmillan, Oxford, Pearson Education, and other publishers. His writing has appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies. He divides his time between Indianapolis, Indiana, and Timisoara, Romania.

English is Layla Al-Bedawi’s third language, but she’s been dreaming in it for years. Her work has been featured in Winter Tangerine, Bayou Magazine, Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, and elsewhere. She is a co-founder of Fuente Collective, an organization focused on experimentation, collaboration, and hybridity in writing and other arts.

Deborah L. Davitt was raised in Nevada, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son. Her poetry has received Rhysling, Dwarf Star, and Pushcart nominations and has appeared in Asimov’s and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For more about her work, please see http://www.edda-earth.com.

  • Gayle Reaves-King (Fort Worth, TX)

Gayle Reaves-King has been writing since she could first hold a pencil. Her journalism awards include a share in the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in international reporting. Dallas Poets Community published her poetry chapbook Spectral Analysis, and her articles have appeared in regional and national magazines. The Texas native helps organize Pandora’s Box Poetry Showcase, teaches journalism at UNT, and is working on her first nonfiction book.

JT Morse is a writer/photographer/editor with a passion for creative connection. Her work has been published by Interstellar Flight Magazine, Synkroniciti, ArtHouston, Nightmare Press, and other publications. She’s active with Writespace, Comicpalooza, and the SFPA. Morse loves to write beneath a hundred-year-old, ivy-covered oak at her ranch in Evergreen, TX.

Artists

Art & Words 2019

We’ve chosen the participants for this year’s Art & Words show, and it’s going to be such a beautiful show. I’m psyched as all hell.

For more info on how the show works, visit this page, but basically: eleven visual artists and eleven writers will use one another’s work as inspiration. All forty-four works (22 pairs!) of art & words will be on display at Art on the Boulevard from September 21 to September 27, with a reception and reading from 6-9PM on Saturday the 21st!

Below, I present to you the writers and artists who will be part of 2019!

Writers

Artists

Art: surreal image of a ballerina with an open face placing a rose inside her head

Art & Words Announcement 2018

I’m thrilled to announce that all the Art & Words participants for 2018 have been chosen! We received about 200 submissions, more than we’ve received in any other year. In the end, my readers and I whittled it down to a mix of writers and artists from near and far, new to Art & Words and old pros at the process.

The Art & Words Show will be on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at Art on the Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas. I hope to see you there.

For updates on the show and other projects, please subscribe to my monthly email StuffleLetter here: http://eepurl.com/bjbsLj.

2018 Participants

Writers

William Ledbetter
Sean Robinson
Holly Lyn Walrath
Karen Bovenmyer
Oluwaseun Fakoyede
Deborah L. Davitt
Shane Halbach
Renee Hall
Raina Joines
Leah Tieger
Nadia Wolnisty

Artists

Art: sculpture featuring fabric stretched over red "eye"-type balls, growing out of a grey bowl
Stacy TompkinsPolyplasmic Lingam

Art: yellow and blue pastel abstract
Gloria SeppMotherhood

Art: mass of dark grey and black faces rising out of the earth
James RosinStrange Fruit

Art: woman with ram horns holds a staff and a lantern
James KurellaThe Hermit

Art: watercolor of tree roots
Gale Johnston–Roots

Art: wooden sculpture with wires stretching over it
Etienne IllyBound

Art: trees blowing in a wind
Laura HuntPrevailing Winds

Art: sculpture of a papier mache face with sun-like eyes holding a red telephone
Kimmie Hamm–The Call

Art: collage of woman in pink dress walking into a sunset with a tiger perched on top of a circle
Isabel CrespoInto the Yellow Room

Art: surreal image of a ballerina with an open face placing a rose inside her head
Marco Zavala–Naia

Art: full image and close-up of coral bean, and upon the bean there is an image of building
Elizabeth R. WilsonCoral Bean

Art & Words 2017

I’m thrilled to announce that all the Art & Words participants for 2017 have been chosen! We received a huge number of submissions, most of them great, most of them (surprisingly) poetry (which is fine with me!). In the end, guest Editor Isabel Crespo and I whittled it down to 12, with a significant focus on local writers.

The Art & Words Show will be on Saturday, October 7, 2017 at Art on the Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas. I hope to see you there.

For updates on the show and other projects, please subscribe to my monthly email StuffleLetter here: http://eepurl.com/bjbsLj.

2017 Participants

Writers
Courtney Marie
Logen Cure
Layla Al-Bedawi
Gayle Reaves-King
William Ledbetter
Michelle Muenzler
Cassandra Rose Clarke
Nyri Bakkalian
Holly Lyn Walrath
Jean Roelke
T.D. Walker
Jose Trejo Maya

Artists

Kimmie Hamm--nameless re take
Kimmie HammNameless Re-take

Laura Hunt--Birds On A Wet Lawn
Laura HuntBirds on a Wet Lawn

Tompkins_Sculpture_Mixed_Media_Architeuthis8feetX3FeetX6inches
Stacy TompkinsArchiteuthis

Etienne Illy--Separation Anxiety
Etienne Illy–Separation Anxiety

Emilee Koehler--Desolate
Emilee KoehlerDesolate

James Rosin--Paradise Lost
James RosinParadise Lost

Jackson Zorn--April Got No Light
Jackson ZornApril Got No Light

Paul Wolff--Debitum Naturae
Paul WolffDebitum Naturae (Nature’s Debt)

TheMagician(smaller)
Allester VinteersThe Magician

Alex Stock--Realms of the Fourth Eye Deer
Alex StockRealms of the Fourth Eye

Gabe Hales--Looking In
Gabe HalesLooking In

The following artist’s work will be included in the show; we are still awaiting permission to post photos of their pieces:

Megan Najera