Murano

Mark Doty won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Non-Fiction for his memoir "Heaven's Coast" and the Witter Bynner Prize for Poetry awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

This work pairs Mark Doty's elegy to his friend, Lynda Hull, with visual details of Murano glass. The poem originally appeared in "Sweet Machine" published by Harper Flamingo in 1998. The Murano glass is from the Getty collection.

Murano, a recent work by the distinguished American poet Mark Doty, is a contemplative meditation on human mortality and the mystery of artistic creation. Addressed to his late friend, the poet Lynda Hull, the musings in Murano are set against the backdrop of Venice and the glassmaker's art, as practiced for centuries on the island of Murano in the Venetian lagoon.

This moving poem is illustrated with details of sixteen pieces of dazzling Murano glass from the collection of the Getty Museum. These fine, delicate objects paired with Doty's stirring words create an exceptional visual and verbal experience.