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U.S. Navy Reservist & Poet Interrogates American Heroism, Homecomings

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In a quietly epic narrative—lashed-together from the author’s life-experiences as husband and father, literary scholar, and U.S. Navy Reserve intelligence officer—Liam Corley’s debut collection of poetry, Unwound: Poems from Enduring Wars , navigates with readers previously unseen frontiers in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). With care and precision, Corley’s poems probe the dark, interior corners of American heroic ideals, marriage, family, and homecoming . In the collection’s titular poem, for example, he delivers “a poem for the other soldiers / citizens who never fired back [...]” He writes: “[...] I see you with a yellow ribbon wound tight around your chest, looking down when asked about the war [...]” For veterans, family members, and other citizens living in troubled times , Corley’s collection provides a beacon of clear-eyed reflection, assessment, and hopes for the future . However we identify—whether wounded or unwounded, civilian or military— this is war poetry for the rest
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Publisher Announces New Poetry Collections from 21st Century Veterans

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Middle West Press LLC , the Iowa-based business that administers The Aiming Circle community of practice as well as other military-writing projects, announces  the pending release of three new poetry collections centering on or adjacent to issues of war, healing, and military service. The midwestern micro-publisher has now produced more than a dozen collections, anthologies, and chapbooks of war-related poetry and prose, offering readers new and unexpected narratives of what it means to be a U.S. military veteran or family-member . For example, Jessi M. Atherton's recent debut poetry collection, The Time War Takes , explores narratives of healing, growth, and resilience—through Colorado wildfires, trauma, and divorce. In 2005, Atherton deployed to Iraq as a Michigan National Guard citizen-soldier working in logistics. She is now a registered nurse—soon to be a nurse practitioner—working in veterans’ and women’s mental health. She lives and works in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn
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Prose & Poetry Anthology to Celebrate Military Uniforms, Swag & Kit

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Forthcoming in November 2023: Offering an explosive mix of nostalgia, insight, humor, and wisdom , more than 100 emerging and established writers of military themes celebrate their favorite (and sometimes, hated) pieces of uniform gear, swag, weaponry, equipment, and kit . “ The military uniform is a symbol of the service, a tool for the wearer, the representation of a culture. The accoutrements have meaning,” writes author and 33-year U.S. Army veteran Vicki Hudson in the book’s foreword. “Some tell of the wearer’s valor, sacrifice, loss, duty, accomplishment, or rite of passage. Some parts are hard-won, like a tab on the right shoulder. Some mark a history, like the overseas ribbon on a sleeve. [...] Each uniform tells a story. ” Through May 1, 2023 , editors invite submissions to the book at: middlewestpress.submittable.com “ We’re looking for 100-line poems, and 300-word fiction and non-fiction items , each centered on the stories of the military stuff we once wore or used—and
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Minnesota Poet-Veteran of Iraq War Focuses on Resilience & Healing

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In her forthcoming debut collection of poetry, The Time War Takes , U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq War, registered nurse, and mental health advocate Jessi M. Atherton explores themes of memory, resilience, and healing. As a deployed Michigan Army National Guard soldier chancing upon a Baghdad bazaar in 2005, Atherton found what she was looking for, but hadn’t known she needed: a crystalline moment of grace. A reminder to be kind and open, to oneself and to others. The small, pink quartz elephant was a surprise , one crafted especially for her by a young street vendor named Mohammad (call me “Mo,” he had said). On a journey of healing, the figurine has followed her ever since—through Colorado wildfires, trauma, divorce, and the daily challenges of motherhood. Now a Minnesota-based nursing professional active in veterans and women’s mental health, as well as suicide prevention, Atherton shares stories of healing and resilience through the power of poetry. In 2019, Atherton was recognize
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New on Kindle: Soldier-Poet Targets Moral Puzzles through Lens of TV Show

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In the new Kindle e-chapbook  Twelve O’Clock Haibun: Parables & Poems from a Classic TV Show , humor-loving s oldier-poet (and former “Army lessons-learned analyst”) Randy Brown invites readers to view the 1964-1965 first season of the “12 O’Clock High” as a series of moral dilemmas and puzzles. The TV series is now viewable on Amazon Prime Video , as well as Internet platforms. In this standalone spin-off to the author’s ground-breaking 2022 lyrical meta-essay Twelve O’Clock Haiku: Leadership Lessons from Old War Movies & New Poems , readers can now  match wits and wisdom with the charismatic and brooding Brig. Gen. Frank Savage (Robert Lansing), commander of the fictional 918th Bomb Group, as he and his heroic air crews stoically navigate tests of endurance, morality, courage, and loss. A haibun is a Japanese form, comprised of a short prose narrative followed by a haiku. In haibun, the prose and poetry elements traditionally do not address each other directly, but they do
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Middle West Press Editors Interviewed on ‘At Ease’ Podcast

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A recently released episode of Museum of the American Military Family Museum & Learning Center’s At Ease podcast features interviews with Middle West Press editors Randy Brown and Lisa Stice . Museum founder and Executive Director Circe Olson Woessner hosted the 73-minute interview, which is available via the  Podbean mobile app network  or web-browser FREE  here at this link . The three discussed their respective personal histories with the military, and how those experiences shape their actions both as poets, and as editors and publishers of poetry. Located east of Albuquerque in Tijeras, New Mexico, the museum’s  mission  is “to bring together people with shared experiences showcasing and honoring those who also served—America’s Military Families.”  In keeping with that mission, the museum’s MAMF Media project “presents video and audio podcasts and shares the stories, memories, news and culture of the men, women and children who serve alongside America's service members
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Anthology Calls for Micro-Stories & Poems Inspired by Military Gear

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Middle West Press LLC, an independent micro-publisher of military-themed and -adjacent literary projects, has issued a call for submissions for poems & 300-word “micro-stories” (fiction/non-fiction/memoir) inspired by military uniforms and equipment , for an anthology anticipated to publish in November 2023. Editors request both new and previously published (reprint) works that center on physical items used, carried, or encountered during military service. This project was inspired by a concept first suggested by U.S. Army veteran and author Vicki Hudson. For the purposes of this project, “micro-stories” can be defined to include prose-poems, micro-fictions/nonfictions, anecdotes, vignettes, and other forms. Maximum word-count for each “micro-story” is 300. (The approximate size of one-and-a-half Tweets.) Maximum line-count for individual poems is 100. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. There is no submissions fee. A Submittable page is here at this link . Submit no more th
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