Fightin' Words - The Literature of War

The Poetry Center of Chicago presents an evening of work dealing with war’s impact on those who serve. Brian Turner and Bruce Weigl share stories inspired by their own military experience.

Wednesday November 7, 2007, 6:30 pm
Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Avenue

$10, $8 for students, free for members and SAIC students, faculty and staff.

Brian Turner is a soldier-poet whose debut book of poems, Here, Bullet, won the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award and the New York Times “Editor's Choice” selection. Turner served seven years in the US Army, as an infantry team leader in Iraq and in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 10th Mountain Division. Turner's poetry has been published in Poetry Daily, The Georgia Review, and in the Voices in Wartime Anthology published in conjunction with the feature-length documentary film of the same name.

Bruce Weigl is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, and the best-selling memoir The Circle of Hanh. He has been awarded many honors, including the Paterson Poetry Prize, Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Yaddo Foundation, two Pushcart Prizes, and the Poet’s Prize from the Academy of American Poets.

Prior to the reading, special guest Issa Boulos will play a selection of classical Arab compositions. An acclaimed musician, composer and teacher, Boulos is the director of the University of Chicago Middle East Music Ensemble.

Directly following the reading moderator Tom Nawrocki will facilitate a dialogue between the poets, leading an in-depth discussion on their work and experiences. A professor of English at Columbia College Chicago, Nawrocki teaches a course every semester covering various aspects of the Vietnam War. He has published articles, interviews, and reviews in The Michigan Quarterly Review, The Writer’s Chronicle, Gravity, Another Chicago Magazine, Hyphen and others.