When Phoenix, Arizona Poet Laureate Rosemarie Dombrowski was asked by the Office of Veteran and Military Academic Engagement (OVMAE) at Arizona State University to produce a military-themed issue of another literary journal that she was running, she was ready for a new challenge. “I asked if I could create a new journal instead,” Dombrowski explains, “one that exclusively featured the stories of veterans – either written by veterans or their family members.”
This formed into the annual publication of ISSUED: stories of service which features poetry, flash prose (under 1500 words), and profiles (interviews), both online and in print.
“I’m also the granddaughter, daughter, and half-sister of veterans,” Dombrowski shares, “and I’ve had close relationships with several veterans over the course of my life, but I’ve never inquired about their service or done much research on it, so this felt like a project that would encourage other family members to reflect, research, and resurrect that familial history.
“We also know that veterans are oftentimes medically and socially marginalized (and historically and culturally conditioned to not speak about their service-related trauma), so I wanted to make a creative, encouraging, inclusive platform for them.”
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