‘The  sound  of  water’

Designing the 2018 Poetry Poster I was inspired by Billy’s statement  that the Japanese language has 40 different names for water – how poetic. Another inspiration was finding a bookmark with the words ‘The Poetry of Water’ in a secondhand book store.

Finding the poetic in water is not difficult. There are the sounds and textures of water – from the mighty waterfall to the tiney snowflake or droplet. Expressing the poetry of water, visually, is probably best done through its reflective surface.

The final design also had to contain the tree symbol of Poetry in McGregor. What better way than to marry it with the reflective quality of water.

The choice of colour, black and white, was inspired by the fact that we are going through a time of deepening appreciation for water amidst the present drought. It seems appropriate that the 2018 Poetry Poster expresses an introspective, serene – even spiritual – quality.

Edna Fourie  (artist)