Minneapolis poet Chris Martin ’00 returned to Carleton this year to fill in for English professor Greg Hewitt, who is on sabbatical. While he was on campus, Martin spearheaded a public art project called the Ekphrastic Map, an interactive website that lets readers explore campus via creative writing.
The Greek ekphrasis refers to a graphic or dramatic description of a work of art, but in ancient times the term encompassed descriptions of any thing, person, or experience. Martin’s Ekphrastic Map features student writing from his course “Introduction to Creative Writing.” Alana Danieu ’18 (East Aurora, N.Y.) wrote this piece for Martin’s class.
Reflections
I always suspected my dad wanted a boy. He would deny it vehemently, saying he loves his girl. I thought, Dad you love your girl because you dressed your girl, ate burgers with your girl, played ball with your girl, as if she were your boy.
My dad and I had matching gray Under Armour sweatshirts. I wore mine to school almost every day, until Sophie told me I should stop. It’s a boy’s sweatshirt and you’re a girl. You’re supposed to look pretty. Oh, I said.
I recently read on the Internet, “This was why she dreaded having girls: she knew she wouldn’t be able to protect them from self-disgust.” I couldn’t decide if I hated the passage because it was a lie or because it was the truth.
Martin encourages people to submit their own pieces at blogs.carleton.edu/ekphrasticmap.