I caught a fascinating conversation yesterday on NPR during my drive home. Talk of the Nation host Neal Conan was speaking to Mark Bowden, the author of Blackhawk Down, about a writing project being sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council. Being from Missouri I naturally perked up my ears.
The project is called Missouri Warrior Writers Project, which consists of a series of writers workshops and educational resources for active duty service members and veterans of the Afgan and Iraq conflicts, as well as for their families. Some, if not all, of the workshops are already over. However, there is also a three-part writing contest with a deadline of December 30, 2011. The three categories are poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Bowden will judge the nonfiction. All entries will be considered for inclusion in an anthology – Holding Each Elephant’s Tail: Voices from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Winners will be announced by April 1, 2012.
Both Bowden and many of the callers on the show pointed out the benefits of writing about their wartime experiences. Many found it therapeutic, a way to come to grips with their emotions. Some said they were not yet ready to confront their emotions this way, but might do so some day. At least one caller believed doing so saved his life. The show was quite moving. You can read a short synopsis of it at The Talk of the Nation website or listen to the show in it’s entirety. I highly recommend it.
When I got home I immediately tried to run down some details to share with the #FridayFlash community, specifically the link to the project page. I after reading the page I was still a little confused as to who could participate. It started out with “Missouri’s professional writing community is reaching out to our state’s veterans to give them an opportunity to reflect on their service,” making it sound like it may be for Missouri veterans only. But later there is a “call for submissions for its national anthology of writing by veterans and active military service personnel of Afghanistan and Iraq about their wartime experience.” I suspected my confusion was that the workshops were held in Missouri, and therefore Missouri centric, but the contest was for everyone in the US Armed Forces and its veterans.
So I wrote to the contact address for clarification. Kelli Allen, Director of Development for the Missouri Warrior Writers Project, replied very quickly with the clarification I was hoping for – the contest is open nation wide.
She said in part, “Yes, the anthology is open to all veterans and active duty involved with Iraq and Afghanistan. … The call for submissions is national and we would be thrilled if you would pass along the information about submission to your organization.”
I know Friday Flash writers are broad based and far reaching. There may be some participants who qualify for this contest. If not, you surely know of someone who does and you can pass the information on to them.
~jon
Photo from Wikipedia, originally from the USMC.
My Friday Flash this week is 
