online ekphrastic poetry about the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metphrastics is an online poetry journal inspired by works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

We publish ekphrastic poetry responding to the Met’s permanent collection and select special exhibits. 

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Metphrastics

We welcome submissions year-round responding to works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection and select past special exhibits - all areas, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, costume, musical instruments, and the Met building itself. All styles are welcome from poets around the world. 

Please Note: We get a number of submissions about works in other museums, and we get many that are simply not ekphrastic poems. We are unable to respond to these entries. Only ekphrastic poems about artwork at the Met will be considered and responded to. Please note the artwork(s) in your cover letter. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection

Fall 2026: we’re looking for poems about Wounds. This can be a literal or abstract wound depicted in a painting, a “wounded” or damaged work of art itself, kintsugi and other artistic repairs of “wounds,” weapons that have caused wounds, having your heart broken in the Egyptian Wing, or any other way you’d like to interpret this prompt. Please submit by September 15th!

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Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection

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