Synopsis "The Poetry of Modern Conflict: Summer 2019"
What is war poetry, why did we publish this book of war poetry, and why should you read it? War poetry examines an element of battle and how it affects the author or society. A war poet is someone who participates in and writes about the experiences of war, or a non-combatant that writes about the effects of war in poetry. Poets have written about war as long as there has been poetry. Homer wrote war poetry in the Iliad, as did Walt Whitman, Rudyard Kipling, and Lord Tennyson. The art form allows the writer to express ideas and raw emotions from battle or its aftereffects to people who did not participate in combat. War poetry can be patriotic, commemorative, rebuking, horrifying, redemptive, therapeutic, transformative, or simply a recording of a slice of life. The term "War Poet" described the authors of poetry about World War I such as Siegfried Sassoon, T.S. Eliot, Rupert Brooke, and Wilfred Owen, but also noncombatant poets who showed how society was forever changed by that war. An example of a noncombatant war poet from WWII would be Sadako Kurihara who wrote about how war changed her life as a shopkeeper, described the mistreatment of civilians in war, and campaigned for a ban on nuclear weapons. This short book of poetry follows in the tradition of sharing ideas, events, and sometimes visceral emotions from those who have lived in and been touched by war. Each of the six poets provide a unique vision, an individual voice sharing how lives and the world are changed by war. Some of the authors are terse and allow the simplicity of the language to carry emotions of the event. Others are figurative, even elegant, vividly describing how they "saw the elephant." While each author has an individual style, together they provide a clear vision of the impacts of Modern War on society. Collectively these works bridge the divide between those who have felt the experiences of war and those who have not. They provide a shared understanding for our society and move us all closer together. Ultimately that is why these poems should be read. Together the poems expose the wounds war causes humanity, help us all to recognize the severity of the wounds, and perhaps allows us to collectively heal.
