The Central Arkansas Library System will begin a two-year program this fall so veterans can discuss war-related pieces of literature, films and art.
The program -- Fiction and Fact: A War Dialogue with Veterans -- is split into four sections. Each will have its own set of applications so different people can be involved every time, said Brad Mooy, Arkansas Literary Festival coordinator and one of the organizers of the program.
Applications are due online at the library system website by Sept. 16. Administrators will select 15 veterans to participate in the discussion group for the fall, Mooy said.
The application includes basic information such as a name and home address and then asks for a description of the candidate's military experience, desire to be a part of the program and favorite war-related book, film, poem or artwork.
"Our goal is to get a diversity of perspectives," said Alex Vernon, an English professor at Hendrix College and another program organizer.
If not enough people sign up, applications may open for military families as well as veterans, Mooy said.
The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the library a grant for almost $100,000 to pay for the program, Mooy said.
The endowment is a federal agency established in 1965 that funds humanities programs, according to its website.
Vernon said some of his friends told him about the grant, and he decided he wanted to do a program.
He said he didn't think that the program would fit Hendrix because the college population is mostly undergraduates, most of whom are not veterans.
Little Rock's program was one of 17 applications accepted for the grant and was the only library-affiliated program selected in the nation, Mooy said.
The first unit's theme is "Battlefield and Homefront," and participants will read and discuss Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain.
Fountain will participate in the group discussion via a webcam. He said in an email that he was more excited about being a part of the discussion than he would be if he were just lecturing about the book.
"I would say that veterans might benefit from reading and discussing not just Billy Lynn but any and all books that make a genuine attempt to try to portray and understand the experience of war, and in particular the experience of a soldier trying to relate to or re-enter mainstream society after combat," Fountain said in the email.
Fountain's book has been made into a movie to be released this November, and the book discussion group will attend a Veterans Day screening, Mooy said.
Spring 2017's section will focus more on World War I. Only 10 participants will be allowed in that group because one of the weekend commitments will include a trip to a World War I museum in Kansas City, Mo., Mooy said.
The third section, in fall 2017, will be about the Vietnam War, and the group will take a trip to a Vietnam War museum in Chicago. Because of the expense of the trip, there will be 10 participants allowed in that section, Mooy said.
The last section will center on documenting war, and veterans will talk more about nonfiction works and films, he said.
Vernon said he hopes to expand the program so that veterans attending local colleges can get class credit by doing extra work and attending the discussions.
A humanities expert will speak to the group for each of the sections, Mooy said.
"I really want to stress the support of the humanities and how important it is for folks to incorporate the humanities into their daily lives," Mooy said.
Vernon, who was on active duty in the Army for three years, said he wants the group to provide veterans with "the space to pause and reflect" on their experiences.
Fountain said that discussion of many pieces of literature could help veterans sort out confusion about their life experiences.
"There aren't any easy answers to these sorts of life challenges, and grappling with those kinds of challenges is what literature does best," Fountain said.
Metro on 08/14/2016