Minnesota Hosts Vets-Writing Series, New Contest

A series of five FREE "Veterans' Voices" writing workshops for military veterans, a 2-day salon for college educators, as well as a new writing contest for military veterans, will be sponsored by the Minnesota Humanities Center in locations across the state between April and July 2019.

Submissions open April 3 for the writing contest. Organizers seek fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and memoir from service members, past and present, who currently live in Minnesota. Deadline is July 24, 2019.

Up to 10 contest entries will be selected for recognition in an October 2019 event. Copyright will remain with the author. It is not mandatory for contributors to attend one of the scheduled workshop events, but it is encouraged. Entries can be submitted via on-line form; e-mail; or postal mail. Click here for more contest details.

According to press materials:

An independent panel will review submissions based on alignment with [Minnesota Humanities Center] mission, core values, and eight themes of the Veterans’ Voices program: Combat & Non-Combat, Duty, Family, Motivation, Perceptions, Reintegration, Service, and Transformation. The panel will also consider the overall diversity of the pieces (poetry, prose, etc.) and the awardee pool across geographic location, demographics, and lived experiences.

The first FREE workshop event will be Sun., April 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Bent Paddle Brewery, 1832 West Michigan Street, Duluth.

Workshop locations and dates are:

• Sun., April 14 in Duluth (Click for registration.)

• Thurs., May 16 in Minneapolis (Registration information pending.)

• Sat., June 8 in St. Cloud (Click for registration.)

• Thurs., June 27 in Granite Falls (Click for registration.)

• Sat., July 13 in Winona (Click for registration.)

The workshops will be facilitated by instructors from Warrior Writers, a Philadelphia-based non-profit network specializing in such events. According to press materials:

The Warrior Writers Workshop provides a safe space for Veterans to tell their own stories, using prompts and discussion covering a variety of military issues and experiences.

This workshop encourages sharing stories, opinions, and ideas for productive writing, reflecting, storytelling, and art-making. A highlight of this workshop for many Veterans is having a space to release bottled-up thoughts and emotions alongside others who understand, creating a sense of empowerment in the ability to tell their own story. By creating an open and accepting atmosphere, we build a community of support.

This workshop is for any service member or Veteran, regardless of experiences with writing, combat, art, deployment, etc.

A related 2-day salon for Minnesota college educators working in the humanities in the Duluth area will be held on the campus of Lake Superior College on Fri., April 12 and Sat., April 13. Participants will explore topics and themes of war, remembrance, memorials, monuments, as well as past and present social issues facing their veteran and non-veteran students. A stipend of $250 is available to participants. For more information, click here.

Direct event registration questions via e-mail to: registration AT mnhum DOT org

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