Flying the Pigeonhole: Naming and Dismantling Stereotypes in Military Writing

Writers with military backgrounds (including veterans, military family members, and immigrants) have experienced—and continue to experience—stereotyping in literary circles and the publishing business. Within these stereotypes, or pigeonholes, writers are further restricted to creating and sharing work that examines mostly limited perceptions of their identities (i.e., all veterans struggle quietly with PTSD, all military spouses are lonely and longing, all immigrants feel similarly about the United States, etc.) and new work that challenges these perceptions must struggle harder and longer to be heard. By giving writers a space to create work that openly questions and hears their full identities, this workshop revives our efforts to push back against stereotypes.

This two-session, multi-genre, virtual workshop will be generative in nature, but active discussion in each meeting will be key to understanding our awareness of stereotyping and clearing a viable path through its pressure. Writers should expect opportunities to discuss what it means to write with a military background in today’s publishing landscape, read/hear contemporary work and perspectives from established writers, and generate new poetry and prose that breaks down barriers we may not have realized we were facing. There will be opportunities to share our work, but doing so will not be required.

Students will complete the series with:

• at least 4 starting points for new pieces
• an expanded reading list for work that complicates common perceptions of military identity and “acceptable” writing subjects
• a developed sense of community among writers facing similar roadblocks and struggles along the creative and professional pathway
• ideally, a strengthened understanding of who we are as whole, complex writers with connections to military service and violent conflict. This understanding already serves as a foundation for our creative and professional confidence, and that confidence is what enables us to make change where change is necessary.