Abstract

Teaching writing and producing a publication in an institution such as a prison, is not that uncommon of a classroom for a language arts or writing teacher. But what about teaching a creative writing workshop in a home and hospital for U.S. Military veterans? As any literature teacher with a traditional anthology knows, stories of war have left their mark, ranging from Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” to Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” Less common, are the voices from veterans in either short or long term-recovery at a government facility, (and often a recovery taking place years after completing their military service). With the U.S. presently engaged in two wars, my hunch is we will see more workshops like the one I recently taught at The Rocky Hill Veterans Home and Hospital in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. In this presentation, I will highlight the experiences I had as both teacher and also, uniquely, as a student of a non-traditional student group. I will look at how this 6-week workshop (that is presently entering its third semester) produced a book based on the themes of Reclaiming Lost Cultural Perimeters and Writing About The Opposite Gender.