The Line, Literary Review

Join Columbia University in the launching of their new literary review, The Line, a non-profit journal exclusive to veteran writing. Tomorrow, January 27th at 7:00pm EST, The Line launches with work by Matt Gallagher, Lindsay Swoboda, Bob Hanson, and J.H. Crain. The Line will also feature readings by writers from Words After War, Women Veterans Empowered and Thriving, Voices From War, Warrior Writers, United States Veterans’ Artist Alliance (USVAA), and the Writer’s Guild’s Veterans Writing Project.

The Line is committed to a new generation of creative veterans, spotlighting those driven to produce contemplative, compelling, and cathartic content. Our primary focus is to publish veteran literature, art, social commentary, and reviews; we will consider any material created to bridge the gap between veterans and contemporary audiences.

To register for a free ticket click here and to read more about The Line click here

Authors Talk: John Milas

Today we are pleased to feature author John Milas as our Authors Talk series contributor. In this podcast, John discusses his short story “Tide Roll Away,” and emphasizes the theme of the “humanity of people who wear uniforms.”

John states that “We live in a society in which we are taught to dehumanize the uniformed, regardless of our place on the political spectrum.” Whether it’s the uniformed police, members of the military, or even “the teenager behind the cash register at a fast-food franchise,” John emphasizes that we are taught to use uniforms as a way to “dehumanize and exploit” those who wear them, and to only see such individuals “as part of a larger group.”

John muses on the idea if we, as members of society, “ever interrogate the specific, detailed reasons that an individual may have for wearing [their] uniform.” Eventually, he finds that “we spend more time jumping to conclusions than we do exercising our ability…to empathize with individuals, or our imperative as artists to do so.” He concludes by quoting “fellow veteran writer” Ulf Pike, who says that “I can’t tell anybody else what they should be writing about in terms of war or the military…My responsibility is to myself, that I write from a genuine conviction…to find traction and friction and move forward.”

You can read John’s story, “Tide Roll Away,” in Issue 19 of Superstition Review.