Look Into Project Written About in July "Poets & Writers"

A painter named Eric Fischl created a national art project which involves poets. It is a show that is to go around the nation and not only includes creations of poets, but also filmmakers, musicians, playwrights, and visual artists.

The title of the work is "America:Now and Here" and it addresses what the contributors would like to focus on in the present as a way of diffusing the toxic situation of our society today.

The poets contacted created a "renga" which starts with a three-line stanza which includes seventeen syllables. The poet who began the renga passed it on to the next poet, who, in turn, wrote a couplet of seven-syllable lines, according to Alex Dimitrov, who wrote the article in "Poets and Writers." The three-line stanza and couplet continued as the piece was offered to one chosen poet after another. The result in this case was the work entitled " Crossing State Lines," which is on exhibit within the total project of "America:Now and Here."

The entire traveling show will be visiting different cities in the United States starting Fall 2012 for two years. Each host city is able to make their own unique contribution to "America:Now and Here" which will be presented at that particular site. To get involved or learn where the project will be available for viewing, see www.americanowandhere.org