Artlyst in association with The Poetry Society are pleased to launch a new international award for poetry based on works of art. 

The awards are made possible by Artlyst and Frances Segelman (Lady Petchey) in association with The Poetry Society

From ancient times poets have been inspired by art. Ekphrastic poetry has given us some of the most celebrated poems in the English language from Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, to W.H. Auden’s ‘Musée des Beaux-Arts’, based on Brueghel’s famous painting of Icarus falling from the sky. In each case, what has been created is not a mere description but a fresh insight, a new world, an autonomous work of art.

The Artlyst Art to Poetry Award celebrating ekphrastic poetry is open to all poets worldwide aged 18 or over. Entrants may submit as many poems as they wish so long as they are based on an artwork. This can be in the…