“Smoking”
Vol. VII - Front Cover
“Shave and a Haircut”
Vol. VII - Back Cover
Featured Ekphrastics
For Quibble Volume 7, PEOPLE, we invite writers to participate in a focused creative exchange between visual art and language.
This featured call centers on two original collage artworks by Devon Balwit, which will serve as the front and back cover images for the issue:
Smoking — Front Cover
Shave and a Haircut — Back Cover
We’re seeking five ekphrastic responses—poetry or prose—that engage directly with one or both of these works, and explore what they reveal, complicate, resist, or transform.
This is not a contest, but more of a prompted curation.
Selected pieces (Featured Ekphrastics) will appear first in sequence within the print issue of PEOPLE (Feb 2026) , setting the tone for the issue and welcoming readers into a layered conversation between image and voice.
About the Artworks
Balwit’s collages work through juxtaposition, gesture, and interruption—assembling fragments into portraits that fill the surreal with the feel of the familiar.
Writers may approach the artworks literally or abstractly, narratively or lyrically. We’re less interested in description alone than in what the image unlocks: a voice, a character, a memory, a tension, a question.
What We’re Looking For
We welcome ekphrastic work in the broadest sense. Submissions may be:
Poetic or prose-based
Observational, imaginative, or dialogic
Grounded in character, memory, or speculation
Closely tethered to the image—or deliberately oblique
If you enjoy writing that begins with looking closely and responding with intention, this call is for you.
This feature reflects Quibble’s ongoing interest in conversation across forms, and in publishing work with specificity, care, and context.
Genres: Poetry or prose
Response: Work must engage clearly with Smoking, Shave and a Haircut, or both
Selection: Chosen by the Quibble Lit editorial team
Publication: Featured placement at the opening of Quibble Vol. 7: PEOPLE
Submission Details
