Steve Gerkin turns Sam Joyner photos into a multi-genre book

Tulsa author Steve Gerkin built Echoes of Light: Images into Writing around photographer Sam Joyner’s black-and-white images, blending nonfiction, fiction and poetry into one collection. The book, published in 2024 and later recognized by the Oklahoma Book Awards, reflects a collaboration shaped by Joyner’s dementia and the goal of preserving his work.

Why it matters: - Echoes of Light shows how photography can become a starting point for multiple forms of storytelling, from memory and history to fiction and poetry. - The book also preserves Sam Joyner’s photographic work at a time when Joyner was concerned it could disappear from his computer into “dead folders.” - The project highlights how late-career creative work can grow into a lasting collaboration with cultural value.

What happened: - Tulsa author and essayist Steve Gerkin created Echoes of Light: Images into Writing with longtime friend and photographer Sam Joyner. - The book grew from a conversation about Joyner’s future and the fate of his photographic archive. - Gerkin selected photos from Joyner’s collection and wrote pieces inspired by each image. - The book was published in December 2024 by Twin Feathers Ink. - Echoes of Light later received recognition through the Oklahoma Book Awards program, and Gerkin’s website identifies it as a 2025 Oklahoma Book Award winner.

The details: - The collection combines creative nonfiction, historical nonfiction, flash fiction, historical fiction and poetry. - Each piece begins with one of Joyner’s black-and-white photographs. - Gerkin does not separate the genres into distinct sections; the forms are woven throughout the book. - Each piece is labeled by genre so readers can see how one image leads to different kinds of writing. - The photographs cover a range of subjects and places, which gives Gerkin room to move from observation into imagination. - Gerkin said the project began after Joyner worried his work would be lost as his dementia advanced. - Gerkin’s advice to emerging writers is: “Just get behind the keyboard and let it rip. Revise later.”

Between the lines: - Gerkin’s process reflects ekphrastic writing, where an artwork becomes the prompt for new writing. - His approach suggests the image matters less as a strict subject than as a launch point for memory, historical research and invented narrative. - The book also fits Gerkin’s broader career pattern: writing rooted in Tulsa, history and place, but open to genre blending. - Gerkin described the discovery of creative writing as “more of a lighthouse” than a simple light bulb moment, signaling a career shift that was both practical and personal.

What's next: - Gerkin says he is continuing to write and develop new projects. - His upcoming work includes Tomorrow Starts Today & Other Stories, a collection of previously unpublished writing. - Another planned project is What Makes Them Tick: Historic Writers Exposed, which looks at literary techniques used by established writers. - Gerkin also plans to keep studying craft and participating in the Tulsa literary community.

The bottom line: - Echoes of Light is both an art book and a literary collaboration, turning one photographer’s archive into a multi-genre record of memory, place and imagination. - More information is available at Steve Gerkin’s website.