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National Endowment for the Arts Announces Andrew Carroll As Editor of Operation Homecoming AnthologyCarroll, Editor of Bestselling Anthology War Letters, is Also Co-Founder of American Poetry & Literacy Project November 11, 2004
Washington, D.C.— The National Endowment for the Arts has announced Andrew Carroll as editor of the Operation Homecoming anthology of wartime writing. To be published by spring 2006, the anthology will feature writings created through the NEA’s national initiative Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. Operation Homecoming is a unique program that seeks to preserve the stories and reflections of U.S. military personnel and their families. Since April 2004, Operation Homecoming has brought writing workshops taught by distinguished authors to military bases nationwide and abroad.
A native and resident of Washington, D.C., Andrew Carroll is the editor of the bestselling book War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars. Carroll is also the director of the Legacy Project, a national initiative that encourages Americans to seek out and preserve wartime correspondence before these letters (and now e-mails) are lost or destroyed. Launched in 1998, the Legacy Project has received more than 75,000 never-before-seen letters from every war in this nation's history, including e-mails from Afghanistan and Iraq. In 1993, Carroll and the late Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky co-founded the American Poetry & Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization that has distributed more than a million poetry books across the country. Carroll, who also will conduct writing workshops at select military bases, will edit the Operation Homecoming anthology on a pro bono basis. "What I find so exceptional about this project is the encouragement it provides to the troops to share their experiences," said Carroll. "These are extremely bright young men and women, but they are also very modest. One of the objectives of Operation Homecoming is to remind them that their perspective --regardless of what it might be --on war, combat, and life in the military represents the most authentic and insightful voices we have on these subjects.” "Operation Homecoming will preserve personal accounts of the wartime experiences of our troops and their loved ones," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "Some of these writings will focus on a singularly challenging moment in life, while others may provide vivid accounts of historical events that rise to the occasion of literature. American letters will be richer for their addition." Call for submissions In conjunction with the writing workshops, the NEA has issued an open call for submissions from military personnel, reservists, National Guard members, and Coalition Authority members who served after September 11, 2001, as well as their immediate families. The Operation Homecoming anthology will feature the best writings submitted to the program. Under Carroll’s guidance, a panel of 14 renowned authors will review submissions for consideration in the anthology. The panel will select anthology writings based on literary excellence, historic importance, and a desire to present a diversity of genres. No writings will be excluded based on point of view. The Operation Homecoming anthology will be given to military installations, schools, and libraries and sold in bookstores. In addition to the anthology, Operation Homecoming will preserve all submissions in an appropriate federal government archive. Operation Homecoming has featured a range of acclaimed authors to share their perspectives on the craft of writing. Writers such as Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country, and Jeff Shaara, author Gods and Generals, have led workshops in New York, North Carolina, Alaska, Virginia, and Italy. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska (Nov. 22-23) and Naval Station San Diego (Dec. 8-9), among others. To provide inspiration and guidance to aspiring military writers, the NEA is distributing an Operation Homecoming CD containing interviews and readings by well-known writers who have dealt with war. An online writing tutorial and educational articles will be available December 15 at www.operationhomecoming.org. Operation Homecoming is presented in coordination with the Department of Defense and the Southern Arts Federation. Operation Homecoming is made possible by The Boeing Company. Submissions will be accepted through March 31, 2005. To learn more about Operation Homecoming submission guidelines, visit www.operationhomecoming.org. National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
