OK, it’s true: The only writing I know with the vaguest “military” connection is the Beatles’ song “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” My ignorance of the genre may explain, in part, why I’m intrigued by the William E. Colby Military Writers’ Symposium, to be held at Norwich University this Wednesday and Thursday.
The other part is the theme: “Coming Home: The Hopes, Fears and Challenges of Veterans Returning From War.” Oof.
In the two-day residency, author participants will share their work and “debate the issues of the past and present,” according to a Norwich press release. And that seems to include just about everything.
But the writers won’t just be talking among themselves. A panel discussion open to the public on Thursday features these authors:
• James Wright, author of Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America’s Wars and Those Who Fought Them (New York Times review here);
• David McIntyre, author of Centerline;
• Karl Marlantes, author of the Colby Award-winning Matterhorn and What It’s Like to Go to War;
• Col. Jon Coffin (ret. VTANG), one of just six psychologists in the National Guard system
Other symposium participants include this year’s Colby winner, Thomas P. McKenna of Stowe, who wrote Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam; and Myke Cole, author of the action series Shadow Ops and a reservist in the Coast Guard (pictured above).
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