Ekphrasis is a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art. Adult/college area writers residing within the Michigan 231/616/269 area code are invited to submit entries of original ekphrastic poems based on 10 selected works of art from the MMA’s permanent collection for the Art Talk competition.

The competition opens with a Writing Salon at the museum on Thursday, Jan. 25 from 5:30-8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. The competition artworks will be on display and entry forms will be available at the event. Artwork images and entry forms may also be uploaded, starting Jan. 24 from the MMA’s website, www.muskegonartmuseum.org. Guidelines for the competition are also available on MMA’s website.

The competition ends on March 28. An awards ceremony and reading of award winning poems will be held April 25. Cash prizes, museum memberships and gift certificates will be awarded to the winning poets.

The Muskegon Museum of Art is located at 296 W. Webster Ave. in downtown Muskegon.

Art Talk is sponsored by the Muskegon Writer’s Center and the Poetry Society of Michigan.