WWrite Veteran Blog Contributors Meet at Washington Conference to Talk about Writing and War

WWrite bloggers continue the conversation beyond WWI! On Thursday, February 9th, three WWrite veteran blog contributors came together at the annual Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Washington D.C. to talk about their writing and war experience. Each year, over 12,000 people join the contemporary American writing community for four days of dialogue with panels, lectures, and a book fair. It is the largest literary conference in the country.

Brian Turner and Benjamin Busch, who wrote the last three WWrite posts, and Jay Moad, whose post will be featured on the blog in the spring, formed a panel called "From Verse to Stage and Screen: Veterans Adapt." They discussed adapting verse and memoir into more public modes of expression: stage, screen, opera, and performance. They also addressed the challenge of moving beyond the word to theatrically present the events and emotions inherent to combat and military life. Offering insight into issues of craft and collaboration, the panel explored how private modes of literary representation can be transformed into dramatic artworks produced and experienced socially. Other participants on the panel were contemporary veteran writers, Peter Molin and Jenny Pacanowski. Today, Saturday, February 11th,  Benjamin Busch will present on war writing and journalism on another panel at AWP called "I Wouldn't Go There If I Were You: Literary Journalism and the Craft of Writing Dangerous Places.

Post written and adapted by Jennifer Orth-Veillon

Veteran writers from left to right: Brian Turner, Jay Moad, Peter Molin, Jenny Pacanowski, and Benjamin Busch