Peace Corp experience inspires the poetry/photo hybrids of Indiana's John Sherman

NUVO | INDY'S ALTERNATIVE NEWS
By Dan Grossman

"Fort Wayne" by John Sherman, poem & photograph

INDIANA - "Three Journeys That Redefined Lives: John Sherman" is on display at the Indiana Interchurch Center Art Gallery, 1100 W. 42nd St., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, through March 30. Copies of two of Sherman's books — War Stories, a memoir of his experience as an aid worker in Nigeria during the Biafra War, and Marjorie Main — are available at the show. Born in 1944, John Sherman grew up on a farm 50 miles south of Fort Wayne, a city that was, believe it or not, a cultural Mecca for him during his youth.

During a tour of his show at the Indiana Interchurch Center Art Gallery, the first thing Sherman showed me was his poem “Fort Wayne,” printed on his photograph of the Roman Coliseum. Making reference both to Fort Wayne’s municipal coliseum and the slightly more renowned relic of the Roman Empire, the poem reads:

Coney Dogs were
the bread of our circuses
we were always happy
without even contemplating
being safe from the growling lions in Fort Wayne
whose ancestors
ate ours
in Rome.

Such juxtapositions are par for the course in this exhibit that combines Sherman’s passions for poetry and photography. Both are informed by his rural upbringing, as well as his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer, aid worker and world traveler. [link]