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Masters
“These poems hit with force […] a lived texture of doubt, damage and longing, rendered with clarity and physical weight.” ~ Seán Kissane
From John Singer Sargent to Francis Bacon and Keith Haring – covering romantic landscapes and surreal portraits – Masters curates a gallery of writing in response to paintings by queer men. Mark Ward’s voice inks that of the artist, the subject, and the viewer across poems exploring desire, grief, shame, defiance and surrender.
Tender and daring, Masters goes in search of a shared queer male history across the past century, and invites us to look more deeply at the worlds beneath and beyond the brushstrokes.
Featuring poems about artworks by Bernard Perlin, Denis Wirth-Miller, Edward Burra, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Francis Bacon, Gerard Dillon, Henry Bishop, Henry Robertson Craig, Henry Scott Tuke, Jasper Johns, Jared French, John Singer Sargent, Keith Haring, Keith Vaughn, Patrick Hennessy, Patrick Proctor, Pavel Tchelitchew, Philip Core, Vivian Forbes and Yannis Tsarouchis.
Praise for Masters
“These stunningly executed poems achieve what the best ekphrastic work does – they open windows into worlds both strange and familiar, vividly evoked in Ward’s pitch-perfect poems. Skillfully ventriloquising the voices of both artist and muse, and deeply rooted in intimate queer spaces, these poems are a testament to the subversive, sustaining and liberating qualities of art.”– Jessica Traynor, author of New Arcana
“These poems hit with force. They don’t flirt with metaphor or posture at cleverness. They expose. Ward writes from the gut, reaching for words to match the intensity of looking, of feeling, of remembering. There is sex, but it is ambivalent. There is romance, but it collapses. The body appears again and again: undressed, touched, shamed, adored, but never safely. What emerges is not a tidy narrative of queer life, but a lived texture of doubt, damage and longing, rendered with clarity and physical weight.”– Seán Kissane, Curator of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
“Mark Ward’s Masters is a gallery of twenty queer artists, as if each painting opens a door to the complexities of desire. Ward gives voice to every brushstroke. He pinpoints passion with luscious phrase-making (‘a psalm in underwear’), lyrical imagery (‘Burn me for light. Lose a body in me’) and exciting variations of form, including a range of powerful sonnets. These poems play with the queer body as landscape, admitting the colours of shame and ambivalence alongside radical joy. Hands and skin, eyes and kisses dance, wrestle and swan-dive through Mark Ward’s singing lines.”– Robert Hamberger, author of Nude Against a Rock
From John Singer Sargent to Francis Bacon and Keith Haring – covering romantic landscapes and surreal portraits – Masters curates a gallery of writing in response to paintings by queer men. Mark Ward’s voice inks that of the artist, the subject, and the viewer across poems exploring desire, grief, shame, defiance and surrender.
Tender and daring, Masters goes in search of a shared queer male history across the past century, and invites us to look more deeply at the worlds beneath and beyond the brushstrokes.
Featuring poems about artworks by Bernard Perlin, Denis Wirth-Miller, Edward Burra, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Francis Bacon, Gerard Dillon, Henry Bishop, Henry Robertson Craig, Henry Scott Tuke, Jasper Johns, Jared French, John Singer Sargent, Keith Haring, Keith Vaughn, Patrick Hennessy, Patrick Proctor, Pavel Tchelitchew, Philip Core, Vivian Forbes and Yannis Tsarouchis.
Praise for Masters
“These stunningly executed poems achieve what the best ekphrastic work does – they open windows into worlds both strange and familiar, vividly evoked in Ward’s pitch-perfect poems. Skillfully ventriloquising the voices of both artist and muse, and deeply rooted in intimate queer spaces, these poems are a testament to the subversive, sustaining and liberating qualities of art.”– Jessica Traynor, author of New Arcana
“These poems hit with force. They don’t flirt with metaphor or posture at cleverness. They expose. Ward writes from the gut, reaching for words to match the intensity of looking, of feeling, of remembering. There is sex, but it is ambivalent. There is romance, but it collapses. The body appears again and again: undressed, touched, shamed, adored, but never safely. What emerges is not a tidy narrative of queer life, but a lived texture of doubt, damage and longing, rendered with clarity and physical weight.”– Seán Kissane, Curator of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
“Mark Ward’s Masters is a gallery of twenty queer artists, as if each painting opens a door to the complexities of desire. Ward gives voice to every brushstroke. He pinpoints passion with luscious phrase-making (‘a psalm in underwear’), lyrical imagery (‘Burn me for light. Lose a body in me’) and exciting variations of form, including a range of powerful sonnets. These poems play with the queer body as landscape, admitting the colours of shame and ambivalence alongside radical joy. Hands and skin, eyes and kisses dance, wrestle and swan-dive through Mark Ward’s singing lines.”– Robert Hamberger, author of Nude Against a Rock
- GenresPoetry
30 pages, Paperback
Published October 9, 2025
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14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 11, 2025
Yes, it's my book! Here's some nice things people have said about it:
“These stunningly executed poems achieve what the best ekphrastic work does – they open windows into worlds both strange and familiar, vividly evoked in Ward’s pitch-perfect poems. Skillfully ventriloquising the voices of both artist and muse, and deeply rooted in intimate queer spaces, these poems are a testament to the subversive, sustaining and liberating qualities of art.”– Jessica Traynor, author of New Arcana
“These poems hit with force. They don’t flirt with metaphor or posture at cleverness. They expose. Ward writes from the gut, reaching for words to match the intensity of looking, of feeling, of remembering. There is sex, but it is ambivalent. There is romance, but it collapses. The body appears again and again: undressed, touched, shamed, adored, but never safely. What emerges is not a tidy narrative of queer life, but a lived texture of doubt, damage and longing, rendered with clarity and physical weight.”– Seán Kissane, Curator of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
“Mark Ward’s Masters is a gallery of twenty queer artists, as if each painting opens a door to the complexities of desire. Ward gives voice to every brushstroke. He pinpoints passion with luscious phrase-making (‘a psalm in underwear’), lyrical imagery (‘Burn me for light. Lose a body in me’) and exciting variations of form, including a range of powerful sonnets. These poems play with the queer body as landscape, admitting the colours of shame and ambivalence alongside radical joy. Hands and skin, eyes and kisses dance, wrestle and swan-dive through Mark Ward’s singing lines.”– Robert Hamberger, author of Nude Against a Rock
“These stunningly executed poems achieve what the best ekphrastic work does – they open windows into worlds both strange and familiar, vividly evoked in Ward’s pitch-perfect poems. Skillfully ventriloquising the voices of both artist and muse, and deeply rooted in intimate queer spaces, these poems are a testament to the subversive, sustaining and liberating qualities of art.”– Jessica Traynor, author of New Arcana
“These poems hit with force. They don’t flirt with metaphor or posture at cleverness. They expose. Ward writes from the gut, reaching for words to match the intensity of looking, of feeling, of remembering. There is sex, but it is ambivalent. There is romance, but it collapses. The body appears again and again: undressed, touched, shamed, adored, but never safely. What emerges is not a tidy narrative of queer life, but a lived texture of doubt, damage and longing, rendered with clarity and physical weight.”– Seán Kissane, Curator of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
“Mark Ward’s Masters is a gallery of twenty queer artists, as if each painting opens a door to the complexities of desire. Ward gives voice to every brushstroke. He pinpoints passion with luscious phrase-making (‘a psalm in underwear’), lyrical imagery (‘Burn me for light. Lose a body in me’) and exciting variations of form, including a range of powerful sonnets. These poems play with the queer body as landscape, admitting the colours of shame and ambivalence alongside radical joy. Hands and skin, eyes and kisses dance, wrestle and swan-dive through Mark Ward’s singing lines.”– Robert Hamberger, author of Nude Against a Rock
November 20, 2025
I had the privilege of reading an early draft of this pamphlet back in 2024, when I was part of The Emma Press's inaugural Birmingham Editorial Readers Group, created to help choose two publications for 2025. Masters stood out to me instantly as a project with a clear, defined vision that was very well executed; now, reading the final pamphlet, I am confident that we made the right choice in selecting it for publication. Mark Ward has an assured poetic voice that allows him to delve into the tug of war between shame and desire, the history of gay (specifically male) art, sex and love between queer men, and the nude male body. Personal highlights for me include 'The Duel', 'Romantic Landscape', 'Marsh Landscape', 'Land and Water (No. 2)', 'The Critics', and 'The Farewell'.
I'm honoured to have played a part in this pamphlet's journey to publication, and I would thoroughly recommend Masters to everyone.
I'm honoured to have played a part in this pamphlet's journey to publication, and I would thoroughly recommend Masters to everyone.
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January 5, 2026Book 2/2026
October 10, 2025
Masters collates poems responding to paintings by queer men, which was a tagline that immediately captured my attention. I love ekphrastic writing, and was very drawn in by the overarching theme, because it’s just so good!
I received my copy last Friday and immediately devoured the whole book, spending a relaxing evening looking up
paintings as I read the poems. It was lovely having a visual there to reference and really get a feel for the writing, which beautifully depicted the atmosphere of the paintings, creating emotionally resonant portraits that added so much more to the source material.
These poems are powerful, evocative and lyrical, reflecting on desire, romance and longing, and expanding these incredible paintings into wider narratives that inspire and provoke. I loved every poem in this collection and I’m sure I’ll get even more from them on a reread, which I definitely plan on doing soon!
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy!
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I received my copy last Friday and immediately devoured the whole book, spending a relaxing evening looking up
paintings as I read the poems. It was lovely having a visual there to reference and really get a feel for the writing, which beautifully depicted the atmosphere of the paintings, creating emotionally resonant portraits that added so much more to the source material.
These poems are powerful, evocative and lyrical, reflecting on desire, romance and longing, and expanding these incredible paintings into wider narratives that inspire and provoke. I loved every poem in this collection and I’m sure I’ll get even more from them on a reread, which I definitely plan on doing soon!
Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy!
(ad-pr)
October 29, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — 5 Stars
Masters by Mark Ward
“Tender and daring, Masters goes in search of a shared queer male history across the past century, and invites us to look more deeply at the worlds beneath and beyond the brushstrokes.”
This poetry collection was an absolute gem. Beautifully written, evocative, and full of heart, every poem felt intentional and deeply moving. Mark Ward’s words linger long after reading—lyrical, intimate, and profoundly human. I adored every word of it.
Masters by Mark Ward
“Tender and daring, Masters goes in search of a shared queer male history across the past century, and invites us to look more deeply at the worlds beneath and beyond the brushstrokes.”
This poetry collection was an absolute gem. Beautifully written, evocative, and full of heart, every poem felt intentional and deeply moving. Mark Ward’s words linger long after reading—lyrical, intimate, and profoundly human. I adored every word of it.
October 28, 2025
"Masters" by Mark Ward is a powerful collection of poems with an interesting high concept - poems inspired by different paintings by queer men. I had the good fortune to attend the launch of this collection at Books Upstairs in Dublin. The curator of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Seán Kissane, spoke about the power of this work and how it relates to queer Irish history.
For me, highlights include the creepy "Land and Water (No. 2)" (after John Singer Sargant) and the bittersweet "Medical Students" (after Gerald Dillon). It was also interesting to see an homage to Felix Gonzales-Torres, whose work is also referenced in Carmen Maria Machado's dark experimental autobiography of an abusive same-sex relationship, "In the dream house".
My one quibble with this collection is that it could be longer! ^_^ In the acknowledgments, Ward notes that there were a number of poems that didn't make the cut, influenced by artists such as Derek Jarman, Luis Cabarello and Robert Rauschenberg. It's a pity they didn't get over the line for a slightly longer collection. I will be looking forward to Ward's second full-length collection, "Real estate", which is due in summer 2026.
For me, highlights include the creepy "Land and Water (No. 2)" (after John Singer Sargant) and the bittersweet "Medical Students" (after Gerald Dillon). It was also interesting to see an homage to Felix Gonzales-Torres, whose work is also referenced in Carmen Maria Machado's dark experimental autobiography of an abusive same-sex relationship, "In the dream house".
My one quibble with this collection is that it could be longer! ^_^ In the acknowledgments, Ward notes that there were a number of poems that didn't make the cut, influenced by artists such as Derek Jarman, Luis Cabarello and Robert Rauschenberg. It's a pity they didn't get over the line for a slightly longer collection. I will be looking forward to Ward's second full-length collection, "Real estate", which is due in summer 2026.
January 6, 2026
I had the privilege of reading many of these poems in earlier drafts, and I'm doubly excited to read the final collection. Ekphrastic poems don't always grab me. These do. Five stars!
January 20, 2026
This is an incredible collection of poems, inspired by beautiful works of art and queer artists. The reading is only made better by having the images that inspired them in front of you. It was brilliant to see the different directions each of these works had taken in the imagination of the author, and to explore some gorgeous lines of poetry.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews