One of my proudest accomplishments is my collaboration in the design, illustration, and production of the chapbook, “Stories From the Ruins,” a series of 16 poems about the events of 9/11. The handbound, hardcover limited edition is the first collaboration between Another GridKid Production (my graphics production studio) and the writer, Lee Kottner. For more information about Lee, check out her website and blogs at www.leekottner.com.

The 16 poems are a meditation on the site of the Towers itself, what they and the lives entwined with them represented, and what they came to represent both during and after their destruction. Comprising both elegies for the victims and stark, evocative descriptions of what we saw as it happened; the process of making sense of a senseless act; and the observed acts of search and rescue, recovery, mourning, the sixteen poems are both deeply personal and yet universal. They speak to the common experience of New Yorkers, and others who have suffered similar acts of violence.

“Stories From the Ruins” is part of the permanent collection of the Graphic Arts Department at the Detroit Institute of Arts and was included in their exhibit, What’s New in Graphic Arts: Prints and Drawings Acquired Since 2000 November 2003-March 2004. "Ruins" is also included in MoMA's Franklin Furnace Archives Collection.

To purchase a copy of "Stories From the Ruins," go to www.leekottner.com/Ruins.html.