Poetry Workshop: Authenticity over Resiliency: Writing the Military Experience
Date: August 6, 2025
Time: 9:30 AM to 12 Noon
Location: The Pointe Event Center, 12125 S. 32nd Street, Bellevue, NE 68123
Join us for a hands-on workshop with poet Abby E. Murray, author of Recovery Commands, where you can (re)consider what it means to be resilient in the face of military-connected hardships by eexploring the power of authenticity. To this end, participants will read and discuss poetry that reframes strength not as constant acceptance and immunity to pain but as presence within our authentic selves. We will practice writing from our own military and military-connected experiences, with an opportunity to discuss our work. Seasoned writers and those just starting out are welcome. Sponsored by Ex Ophidia Press. See you there!
Workshop Presenter:
Abby E. Murrary (they/them) is the editor of Collateral, a literary Journal concerned with the impact of violent conflict and military service beyond the combat zone. Their first book, Hail and Farewell, won the Perugia Press Poetry Prize. Their second book, Recovery Commands, won the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize published by Ex Ophidia Press, 2025. Abby served as the 2019-2021 poet laureate of the city of Tacoma, WA and currently traches rhetoric in military strategy to Army War College fellows at the University of Washington.
