Where Shallows Talk

In 2017 the Munnings Art Museum opened a special exhibition entitled Munnings and the River. This was designed to reveal another side to the artist who is most well-known for the equine portraits that made him famous and wealthy. During the exhibition the museum engaged Tim Gardiner as Poet-in-Residence to create poetry and prose inspired by the paintings on display.

During the residency, forty-four poems, inspired by the landscape paintings of Sir Alfred Munnings, were published in twenty-three national and international poetry magazines and were included in two anthologies.

As part of the museum’s programme of public events there were poetry evenings for local writers, workshops focussing on Japanese haiku and tanka poetry, Pop-up Poets moving amongst the museum’s day visitors reading a selection of their own works and an open mic reading run during the high summer in a marquee on the museum lawn.

The Munnings Art Museum is delighted to present this book of creative written responses to the paintings of Sir Alfred Munnings. It is the perfect companion to the exhibition catalogue Munnings and the River: in his own words.