<< BackVeterans Recognition Reception Planned Feb. 13
A "Veterans Recognition Reception: In Their Own Words” will honor
active military and veterans of all conflicts from 7-9 p.m. Feb. 13 in
Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall at Southeast Missouri State
University.
The event will feature short readings and a video poem by 10
military personnel, veterans and veterans' family members. The Missouri
Humanities Council, Warriors Arts Alliance and Southeast Missouri State
University Press are hosting the reception, which is free and open to
the public.
Veterans reading at the event are from Missouri, Arkansas,
Tennessee, Minnesota, Illinois and South Carolina. The Missouri National
Guard and U.S. Air Force ROTC will have representatives on hand at
informational booths near the auditorium.
The writing to be shared is based on the veterans' real-life
experiences written in essays, poetry, photographs and short stories
published in the anthology, "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors,
Volume 1,” edited by Dr. Susan Swartwout and released on Veterans Day
last November. "Proud to Be” was created through a partnership between
the Missouri Humanities Council, Warriors Arts Alliance and Southeast
Missouri State University Press, and features 74 selected pieces of
writing from World War I to the present.
The book will be available for purchase at the reception. It
has been praised by reviewers as "a vital first volume,” "an anthology
of hope and healing” and "an impressive arena of artful veterans.”
Veterans are saying, "This is required reading and worthy of a thousand
tears,” "Now I don't feel so lonely” and "I find myself looking back
through it again and again.”
In explaining the importance of this project, Geoff
Giglierano, executive director of the Missouri Humanities Council,
states, "It is vital for veterans to experience the process of
self-expression and not keep things bottled up, and it is essential for
the good of our society that we listen to what these men and women have
to say.”
For more information, contact Swartwout at sswartwout@semo.edu or (573) 651-2044.
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