You know those words, writers… the ones you hoard until the moment you can use one in all seriousness, without being pretentious or looking like a painful poser. Higher education is good for that kind of thing, and Scrabble, but not much in between.

So it is with great joy that I announce my successful, non-ironic, and on-topic use of one of my favorite words ever, ekphrasis, in a new essay up at Bloom—about writer Thomas Van Essen and his debut novel The Center of the World. Also about J.M.W. Turner, the drive to make art, the fleetingness of beauty, and all sorts of other ekphrastic pursuits.

I’m still waiting for the chance to use lacustrine with a straight face. But stay tuned.