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AS YOU WERE: THE MILITARY REVIEW, Vol. 19 Released

We’re privileged to announce the release of As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 19.

This installment includes the works of nearly three dozen writers, artists, and poets, individuals who have chosen to artistically convey what they know and feel. These works are not simply war stories. The presence of militaries in societies has incredibly broad impacts whether those forces are at war or not. Service can incur significant health risks. Children’s parents serve at home and abroad, reshaping family dynamics. Spouses and partners deal with absences as well as the joys and potential hardships of their loved ones’ return. Friends and neighbors agonize over the fate of children born into military families, wondering if they’ll carry on a fraught legacy. These many perspectives are representative of only a few of the many ways in which military service affects us all.

The works included in this edition are also emblematic of the intense efforts involved in crafting creative work. Each finished piece or poem comes only at the end of a long, difficult process involving countless drafts and iterations before their creators submitted them to us. In most cases they have continued the process of revision with our editors, who collaborate with them through draft after draft, honing their skills in their respective crafts and polishing their works in preparation to bring them to you, our readers.

Everyone involved shares in the conviction that this is a necessary labor in order to ensure that our society is informed, and that the human experience is recorded. We deeply appreciate your role in this endeavor and hope you can find entertainment, enrichment, and edification in the pages of As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 19.

AS YOU WERE: THE MILITARY REVIEW, Vol. 16 Released

MEA is proud to announce the release of As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 16. This edition contains nearly thirty works in literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and artwork.

The writers, artists, and poets represented in this volume span the full spectrum of those impacted by military service – combat veterans, family members, or citizens who’ve felt the pull of history. They’ve all contributed fine additions to the literary and artistic canon surrounding military service.

Their work examines age-old questions and unravels new threads of thought. How have combat veterans of the Global War on Terror transitioned into parenting roles? What happens when romance is found while recovering from physical war wounds in a military hospital? What was it like for a little girl whose father returned from Vietnam a changed man? What was it like for a girl whose father did not come home from Vietnam at all? How did the US military’s policy of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” affect LGTBQ+ service members?

By exploring the works in this volume, readers will learn about some of these realities. Perhaps they will gain deeper understandings of the human condition generally, or as it pertains to military service specifically. Maybe a conversation will be struck up that wouldn’t have occurred before. And we can hope that it may inspire others to add their own voices to a robust conversation playing out in literature and the arts.

We’re glad to have the opportunity to share As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 16 with you, whatever its impact may be.

AS YOU WERE: THE MILITARY REVIEW, Vol. 15 Released

MEA is proud to announce the release of As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 15. This edition contains over two dozen works in literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and artwork.

Some of the writers, poets, and artists represented in this edition are new to their crafts. Others are more practiced, even acclaimed in their fields. Many of them worked with our editors one-on-one to hone their creative works to a fine edge, one that our organization is proud to present to you on their behalf.

All of these writers, poets, and artists have contributed to a body of work that peels back layers of rhetoric to examine the emotional landscape of military service, to answer questions about what it was like for everyone impacted. What was it like to be a daughter of a sailor who knows and remembers her father primarily through the letters he’d written? What is it like to be a sailor who has to say goodbye over and over to his only daughter? What memories did the carnage of the Gulf War invoke in a soldier?

As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 15 answers these questions in stark terms. And perhaps they raise more, eliciting contemplation and conversations among our readers. That is certainly the intent of the contributors. It is our organization’s hope that you’ll share these works widely, and – above all – learn of others’ experiences through the prose, poetry, and artwork contained in this edition.

AS YOU WERE: THE MILITARY REVIEW, Vol. 14 Released

Military Experience and the Arts is proud to announce the release of As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 14. This edition contains over thirty works in literary fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

As You Were, Vol. 14 brings diverse and illuminating perspectives to the canon of military-themed literature. Included in this volume are voices from veterans of nearly every branch of the US military, family members of the same, and, like many issues, international perspectives.

There are some seasoned, award-winning writers included in this volume, and there are a great many who are publishing for the first time. Several have worked one-on-one with MEA editors to polish, revise, or rewrite their works in a process that builds skills in creative expression and brings readers excellent works. Through these stories and poems, readers can learn, empathize, and perhaps feel more connected with the greater military community.

Take a look at As You Were: The Military Review, Vol. 14. Thank you!