We will look at the ways that we can access our own profound memories through close observation of the present. Whether through ekphrasis, the close study of an object, or the observation of a person's behavior, we can draw upon our past to offer insight into the present and the future. The tangible world is our best route to the world of metaphor...it's also an effective way to combat writer's block.

Robert Pfeiffer received his MFA and PhD in Creative Writing from Georgia State University. He has published two collections of poetry. His most recent book, The Inexhaustible Before, was published in March by Plain View Press. Individual poems have appeared in journals internationally such as Mudfish, The Connecticut River Review, Indefinite Space, Iodine Poetry Journal, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, The Flint Hills Review, Freefall Magazine, and The Concho River Review and previously in The Fourth River. He currently lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife and daughter, and is an Associate Professor of English at Clayton State University.