Ekphrasis

This has been the It word of the quarter. I realized a little while ago that I've been hearing it in discussions for like the last 8 weeks without having a very clear idea of what it means. I gathered that it generally meant a description, but I thought there was a very special usage for it, judging from the way it was talked about. So, here it is from the horse's mouth:

"Ekphrasis, an extended and detailed literary description of any object, real or imaginary."