"It has been an amazing experience. It's a collaborative project and it's not something any of us could have done alone. I used to write before I went to Iraq, but when I got over there, I wasn't able to write. So through the Warrior Writers Project I have been able to slowly begin to find my words again and share my experiences and what happened over there. It's been a healing experience." - Eli Wright, Iraq veteran, artist
"To get at the stories that we have, you have to strip away all the extraneous bullsh** and just tell it. Warrior Writers supports us in doing that." - Joshua Casteel, Iraq veteran, playwright
"Writing is an essential nourishment for writers. 'I felt so much better doing that,' an Iraq war vet turned poet and playwright said, exhaling as though he'd just pumped oxygen into his muscles by jogging around the block, after jotting down some thoughts during a Warrior Writers' workshop the other day. Earlier, one of the participants blurted out, in an agitated tone, that he felt out of sorts because he hadn't written anything lately." - Jan Barry, Vietnam veteran, poet
Mission:
The Writer Warrior Project's mission is to create a culture that articulates veterans' experiences. We aim to provide the opportunity for a creative community for artistic expression among veterans. We provide witness to the lived experiences of warriors.
What We Do:
The Warrior Writers Project is a dynamic, organic journey that provides tools and space for community building, healing and redefinition for veterans of the Global War on Terror. Through writing/artistic workshops that are based on their experiences in the military, Afghanistan and Iraq, participants connect with other veterans on a personal and artistic level. Art is compiled into books, performances and exhibits that provide a lens into the hearts of people who experienced war. Click here to see photos and videos from past events.
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Values:
• Respect for ourselves, each other, our experiences, and our creative community
• Honesty
•Transformation (Deconstruction/Reconstruction)
• Ownership/pride in our work and our experiences
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Goals:
• Provide opportunities for veterans to be in creative community
• Provide opportunities for veterans to engage in artistic expression
• Support the creation and sustainability of ongoing creative communities
• Create visibility for veteran artists and their work
• Support the incorporation of creativity in organizing efforts
• Support veterans in the discovery of the arts as a transformative tool
• Tell the truths about veterans experiences
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Who We Are:
Founder/Director/Catalyst: Lovella Calica
Events Coordinator: Drew Cameron
Organizer/Advisor: Aaron Hughes
Web Designer/Webmaster: Lynn Estomin
Summer Interns: Sophia Clark, Brittany Owens
Fall Intern: Maggie Martin
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Brief History of the Warrior Writers Project:
Lovella Calica had been working with veterans at Iraq Veterans Against the War for almost three years. As an artist and writer, she connected with many of the artists in the group and they began sharing their work with each other. She knew that their stories were important and wanted to get them out there. Lovella wrote a grant to the Leeway Foundation to fund a writing workshop and print a chapbook. She led the first Warrior Writers workshop (though it didn't have a name yet) in NYC in February 2007 with ten veterans who gathered to write and share their experiences in the military. Participants found the workshop to be healing and empowering. Lovella consulted with Drew Cameron and Aaron Hughes on next steps. She edited and designed the first WW book, Move, Shoot and Communicate, which was released in April 2007. The book release party was combined with another writing workshop, a performance, an exhibit and a paper-making workshop hosted by the Green Door Studio art collective. It was during this transformative weekend retreat in Vermont that we realized that Warrior Writers needed to continue, that we couldn't stop. One month later, the Combat Paper Project was born under the leadership of Drew Cameron and Paper and Book Artist Drew Matott, growing into a multifaceted collaboration between artists, veterans and the community. Later in 2007, Warrior Writers became an official project of IVAW with resources and a percentage of Lovella's staff time allocated for it. In February of 2008 we released our second book, Re-Making Sense. This 200+ page book features over 40 veterans and contains poetry, prose, letters, photographs and visual art. In only two years, the project has: published two books of writing/art, facilitated over a dozen writing workshops with more than 100 veterans, participated in/organized five art exhibits coordinated eight performances (and collaborated on locally organized shows) and launched our website. In July of 2008 at Martha's Vineyard, 27 veterans gathered for a week to be in a creative community and build leadership. The Army Times reviewed Re-Making Sense. Selections from Warrior Writers books have become part of the curriculum for a handful of high school classes and for a course on psychological trauma for paramedics, police and firefighters.
Click here for information on upcoming Warrior Writers events.
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Reviews:
"Combat Poetry: Swords into Ploughshares -- and Paper" by Judith Rosen,
Publishers Weekly
"Iraq Veterans Publish New Book," by Pamela Polston, Seven Days
"Surviving Iraq: Soldiers' Stories and Warrior Writers: Re-Making Sense," Army Times
"Writing War," Review of Move, Shoot and Communicate by Jan Barry
"Writers at Work," by Jan Barry
"Peace Talks," Seven Days
Intro to Re-making Sense Reading by David Huddle
 August 26, 2009
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Permanent Collections:
Yale University, New Haven, CT
University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Tate Britain, London, UK
Library of Congress, washington, DC
LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA
British Poetry Library, London, UK
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Credits:
All rights to art (writing, photographs, visual art, music, animation and video) on this site are retained by the individual artists and may not be reproduced without permission. In addition to the veteran artists featured, the Warrior Writers Project thanks the following artists and organizations for their contributions to the site:
Video:
Lovella Calica
Bryan Chang
Deb Ellis
Lynn Estomin
Justin Francese
Sara Nesson
NYU Creative Writing Program
Photography/Art:
AFSC
Combat Paper Project
Lovella Calica
Lynn Estomin
Seth Goodman
Jim Iommasson
Iraq Peace Team
IVAW
Sean O'Sullivan
Patrick Resta
George Sapio
Music:
Ritsu Katsumata
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Mission | What We Do | Values | Goals | People | History | Reviews | Credits | Collections
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