The Map of Every Lilac Leaf: Poets Respond to the Smith College Museum of Art

by Rebecca Foust (Contributor), Matt Donovan (Editor), Jessica Nicoll (Foreward)

This exquisite new publication features 40 poems written in response to work from the permanent collection of the Smith College Museum of Art, as well as high-resolution reproductions of each selected work of art. Taking its title from Adrienne Rich’s poem that gives voice to Edwin Romanzo Elmer’s Mourning Picture, this book showcases new poems written by renowned poets (including two former U.S. Poets Laureate and six Smith College alums), an introduction by National Book Award-winner Mark Doty, and a range of beautiful SCMA artwork that includes painting, sculpture, etching, video art and objects from antiquity. The publication was developed collaboratively with the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center in conjunction with SCMA100, a celebration of the museum's centennial.

Foreword by Matt Donovan, Director of the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College and Jessica Nicoll, Director and Louise Ines Doyle '34 Chief Curator, Smith College Museum of Art

Brisk Vacancies: An Introduction to Ekphrasis by Mark Doty

Contributing Poets:

Elizabeth Alexander, Ciaran Berry, Richard Blanco, Nickole Brown, Chen Chen, Marilyn Chin, Tiana Clark , Arda Collins, Billy Collins, Meg Day, Matt Donovan, Mark Doty, Camille Dungy, Cornelius Eady, Tarfia Faizullah, Rebecca Foust, Gina Franco, Jenny George, Kathleen Graber, Eamon Grennan, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Kimiko Hahn, Jessica Jacobs, Karl Kirchwey, Dana Levin, Ada Limón, Gail Mazur, Carl Phillips, Robert Pinsky, Barbara Ras, Paisley Rekdal, Adrienne Rich, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Mary Jo Salter, Diane Seuss, Patricia Smith, Gerald Stern, Susan Stewart, Ellen Doré Watson, Abe Louise Young

EDITOR: Matt Donovan
COPY EDITOR: Jessica Skwire Routhier
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Carolyn Eckert
COLOR SEPARATIONS AND PRINTING: Puritan Capital

176 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Rebecca Foust’s new book, ONLY released from Four Way Books in 2022 and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly Foust is the author of three chapbooks including The Unexploded Ordnance Bin (2018 Swan Scythe Chapbook Award) and four books including Paradise Drive, (Press 53 Award for Poetry). Recognitions include the 2020 Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry judged by Kaveh Akbar, the CP Cavafy and James Hearst poetry prizes, a 2017-19 Marin Poet Laureateship, and fellowships from The Frost Place, Hedgebrook, MacDowell, and Sewanee. Recent poems are in The Cincinnati Review, The Hudson Review, Narrative, Ploughshares, POETRY, and elsewhere. Contact her on her at https://rebeccafoust.com/ or @FoustRebecca on Facebook, or @rebecca.foust.52 on Instagram.
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