Veterans to Present Poetry, Prose at 'Wordfest 2013'

Military veterans will present their published works at a free public reading during Wordfest 2013, an annual celebration of the humanities held in Springfield, Mo. The reading will be held Sat., Sept. 28, 1:30 p.m. at Mille's Café, 313 S. Jefferson Ave. Wordfest is underwritten by the Missouri Literary Festival and the Missouri Humanities Council.

The poems and prose to be presented were originally published in "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors," a 2012 anthology produced by Southeastern Missouri State University Press, Cape Girardeau, Mo. "Proud to Be" is co-sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council and the Warriors Arts Alliance.

The "Proud to Be" book is available for purchase via Amazon or directly from the university press. The book was previously covered on the Red Bull Rising blog here; an e-mail interview with anthology editor Susan Swartwout appears here.

A second volume of the anthology series is anticipated to be published in November 2013. The cover design for "Proud to Be" Vol. 2 was announced earlier this week. A call for submissions for a third volume is anticipated later this fall.

According to the Missouri Humanities Council website, authors featured at Saturday's event will include:

• Jay Harden, a U.S. Air Force veteran who flew 500 combat hours in Vietnam as a B-52 navigator

• Fred Rosenblum, a Vietnam War veteran who enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1967

• Gerardo “Tony” Mena, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran who spent six years in special operations with Marine Force Reconnaissance units

• Colin D. Halloran, a veteran who served in Afghanistan

• Lauren K. Johnson, former military public affairs officer who served in Afghanistan

The introduction to the program will be provided by William Garvin, special collections librarian and university archivist at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. Discussion following the readings will be moderated by Geoff Giglierano, executive director of the Missouri Humanities Council.