“Meeting My Father for an Afternoon Drink”

Posted on September 1, 2017 • Words by Nathan McClain • Art by Sam Vernon

What did you think an artist would pick up on from your poem?
Poet Nathan McClain: Firstly, shout-out to Sam Vernon for seeing what she saw in this poem; honestly, I wasn’t sure what an artist would understand or pick up on from the poem — never thought an artist would engage with one of my poems — it’s amazing! If anything, however, I would hope (and I think Sam discovered this) an artist would focus on tone and tonal shifts within the poem.

When you began this piece, was it color, shape, or some other aspect that you followed? Did that change?
Artist Sam Vernon: Shape, line and shadow.  How gray memory can be… 

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Poet Nathan McClain is the author of Scale (Four Way Books, 2017), a recipient of scholarships from The Frost Place and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a graduate of Warren Wilson’s MFA Program for Writers.

Artist Sam Vernon‘s installations combine xeroxed drawings, photographs, paintings and sculptural components in an exploration of personal narrative and identity.

Tagged: Black & White, Family, Mourning, Print / Monotype

“fall poem”

Posted on March 1, 2016 • Words by Danez Smith • Art by Sam Vernon

Collaborator’s Q&A: Poet Danez Smith: I often look to videos and visual art for inspiration in writing. So much of writing is about images so I think it’s natural to look at images to think about how to translate that which we can experience into the readable material. Artist Sam Vernon: Literature is foundational to my practice.

Danez Smith is the author of [insert] boy (2014, YesYes Books), winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and Don’t Call Us Dead, forthcoming from Graywolf Press in 2017. Danez is a founding member of the Dark Noise Collective. Sam Vernon earned her MFA in Painting/Printmaking from Yale University in 2015 and her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2009. Her installations combine xeroxed drawings, photographs, paintings and sculptural components in an exploration of personal narrative and identity.

Tagged: Black & White, Childhood / Youth, Death, Fear, Irony, LGBTIQ+ Writer, Mourning, Pastoral / Anti-Pastoral, Political Critique, Print / Monotype, School, Seasonality