Peggy Zuleika Lynch and Maj. General Edmund C. Lynch, USAF, Ret., founded Poetry in the Arts, Inc. (PITA), in 1983 to promote poetry as a cultural alternative in Austin, Texas, and provide a forum for poets and artists. Then, in 1986, PITA received its charter from the state of Texas as a literary nonprofit corporation.*PITA is a collaborative effort involving poets, writers, educators, the business community and volunteers from throughout society who are committed to promoting the literary arts and artists, and literary arts education.
Our efforts include expanding publication and awards opportunities, providing promotional services and free access to a large, comprehensive body of freely accessible resources to help advance the interests of poets, writers and literary publishers alike, and the development of engaging educational resources, programs and free outreach services to the public schools and other public sector institutions.
Awards and Publication OpportunitiesOur premier publishing venture, Ardent!, began as an innovative new online journal of the arts, call it an e-Zine if you prefer, and is now a perfect bound, semiannual journal of poetry and art.
Poet & Writer ResourcesOur Poet & Writer Resources sub domain is the most expansive, freely accessible and easily navigated meta indexes of resources for poets and writers on the Internet—and we have just begun. We intend that the Resources will contain the most extensive collection of links to poetry contests, publishers, and creative writing learning resources available online—at any price
The Resources and our publishing ventures are the heart of our service to poets and writers, and literary publishing.
Why? Why is PITA engaged in these efforts? Why, because poetry and art are the flour and yeast of aesthetics that nurture the soul!
. . . remain a significant part of our committment to promoting the arts and artists, and we will continue to produce our monthly poetry reading and art exhibit.
PITA's Live Poetry and Art Exhibitions . . .We invite those who have not attended our readings to join us. The program is open to the public at no charge, so whether you want to read a poem in our "open mic" segment for the program, or just listen to wordcrafters present their art, check our calendar and join us.
We often invite poets who have read at our open mic to feature, and now showcase our featured readers in Ardent!
Poetry in the Arts has also been honored to have hosted programs for the United Nations' Dialogue Among Civilizations, and the Poetry on the Peaks series in Austin, TX, in cooperation with the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Dialogue Through Poetry. We remain committed to the goals of these efforts, and encourage participation in communities throughout the world in the ongoing effort. See our calendar for May this year for information about our continued participation in this important effort to unite the community of man.
*Chartered by the State of Texas under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Peggy Zuleika Lynch, poet, author, editor and lecturer
- BS University of Texas, Austin; MFA Southern Methodist University
- Published in US, Italy, India, Canada
- Three Pushcart Prize nominations
- Awards include World Congress of Poets Lifetime Achievement Award and Poet Laureateship , Houston Poetry Fest Literary Arts Award, Poetry Society of Texas Hilton Ross Greer Outstanding Service Award, Stephen Gill International Peace Award for Poetry
- Author of eight books of poetry; coauthored 11; edited 15 anthologies, including
Behold Texas, an anthology of Texas poetry by Texas poets that was the only poetry book selected by the City of Austin, Texas, for inclusion in the Centennial Time Capsule to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the University of Texas; and From Hide and Horn, a sesquicentennial anthology of poetry about 150 years of the Texas state of mind.
- Reads and lectures in the United States, France, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and Puerto Rico
- Poet Laureate and permanent Poet-in-Residence at the Paris American Academy, Paris, France
- Listed in the Vista Who's Who of North American Poets, and Who's Who: Autobiographical Sketches of Poets, Writers and Publishers
- Poetry Society of Texas: Editor, Book of the Year 11 years (1983-94); Program Chairman 1981; Historian from 1996 to present; Banquet Chairman 1999, Member of Board of Directors 2004 to the present, Organizer of the 2005 Summer Conference hosted by Poetry in the Arts.
Board of Directors
Peggy Zuleika Lynch, Founder, Secretary-Treasurer
John J. Nance, LLD, Chairman
Dillon McKinsey, Executive Editor, Ardent!
Charles Johanson, LLD
Barbara Johanson
John Gorman, PhD
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April
 Celebrate! Lamesa, TX |
