Our first posting under the masthead, poet’sPicturebook, is dated December 16, 2007 at a previous address now archived. Two other previous addresses were used by the ezine until the editor decided on a new “home” or “main” or “cover” page under a new address that would carry bigger images representative of the ezine's intentions and contents. Thus, PPB describes itself as a site for poems and pictures, and the result of our insistence on blogging for poetry and art, and our experiments with the Blogger template. Through Bloggers' tolerance and generosity, we have given a unique venue, we believe, to poetry, art, and photography, and poetry inspired by art (ekphrasis) for our readers on the literary Web. It is also our little way of giving value to the world’s artistic, and ekphrastic, heritage as the practice is as old as poetry itself. We hope to be able to do this as long as we can.

We remain committed to bringing to our Internet audience great art and the finest poetry in English from the Philippines and elsewhere, translations from Filipino and other Philippine languages, and Filipino translations of poetry in other languages. Contributions of poetry, art, photography are therefore sought: either as ekphrases (on painting, sculpture, music, dance, or photography), or original art and photography on their own, and discrete, non-ekphrastic poems. We will provide the images for the latter (as concession to the visual and multimedia nature of the Web). Reviews, interviews, culture notes, and the personal essay are also encouraged.

We like to think that when poems and art meet among these (electronic) pages, a new energy is created, in agon or complementation, perhaps the way energy is created in the universe. In this extraordinary encounter, they have a way of re-creating each other in a delight of insights and epiphanies, even if the pictures or words speak of a world that hurts. Or, even if the world, like Auden’s “expensive delicate ship that must have seen something amazing...” in his ekphrasis on Breughel’s Icarus, “had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.” In fact, as this poem indubitably reminds us, it is not art that is indifferent. And it is for the same reason that, as contemporary prize-winning epic poet Francis Macansantos reminds us, as well, "A poet must never lose faith in poetry."

We adopt Pieter Breugel the Elder's Landscape with Fall of Icarus as our icon for ekphrastic poetry, it being the subject of what we consider one of the greatest ekphrastic poems ever written, W.H. Auden's "Musee de Beaux-Arts," after or equal only to Yeat's "Leda and the Swan" or the famous section of the Iliad in which Homer describes the shield of Achilles. Breughel (we are told the painters' sons later restored the h to their name), one of the great Flemish painters, whose works on nature, scenes from the Bible, and parables were rife with narrative, completed the 73.5 x 112 cm. oil-on-canvass c. 1558. It hangs at Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.

What you can send:

1) Poem only (we will find picture to accompany it).

2) Poem & picture (digital file of a photograph, photo of a painting, sculpture, or dance), the poem being based on, derived from, or inspired by the picture that you send together with the poem. That poem is called an ekphrasis of the picture. An ekphrastic poem can also be about a piece of music, so you will have to find a visual for the music (maybe be a photo of part of the score, the picture of the composer, or the like).

3) Poem & picture (where the poem is not an ekphrasis of the picture or image), you just chose it to accompany the picture by whatever esthetic connection or relationship.

4) Poem & picture by another author and artist/photographer with you own critical notes about either or both. It is your obligation, however, to obtain permission from them before submitting to the ezine.

5) Picture only: a. to accompany or illustrate any poem determined by the editor, or b. to occupy the Cover of Home Page of the ezine (it must be very interesting). Accompany that picture with a brief anecdote of its taking—the why, what, and how, and even some technical information regarding the camera, the retouching done, if any, etc.

6) Series of pictures (three to five only); but you must convince me they are worth exhibiting on these pages both by esthetic and technical merit, and with interesting history and circumstances.

Credits • Copyright • Restrictions

1) There are no restrictions as to language, subject or style of the poems and pictures except the Internet and Blogging protocols on pornography and any other content offensive to any race, country, religion, ideology.

2) Poems in other languages must be accompanied by an English translation subject to my evaluation and refinement, if necessary.

3) All poems, art & pictures must be sent by email only.

4) All photographs, images & articles, contributed, solicited or sourced, remain the property of their owners and authors, who retain all the rights, and are duly credited and acknowledged as to source or location. When used elsewhere from this location, acknowledgment as to this source and ownership by the contributors will be appreciated.

Frequency • Themes • Deadlines

We update our magazine monthly. Our monthly themes for the year are listed at the Contents Page. Submission deadline is on the 30th of every month and the magazine is online by the 10th of the following month.

Contact, write us, and submit your contributions thru the following email addresses:

marnezine@gmail.com
marne.kilates@gmail.com