The Cal Poly women’s studies program will bring Maxine Hong Kingston, editor of “Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace,” to speak in the Christopher Cohan Center, room 124 Thursday at 8 p.m.
Kingston, a retired senior lecturer for creative writing at UC Berkeley, and the publisher Koa Books, are proud to announce this compilation of narrative and creative works by veterans spanning five wars.
A standout quality of the book is Kingston’s ability to convey the complexity of the immigrant experience, the Asian-American experience, and the experience of women, all as intersecting identities.
“It’s an incredibly moving collection of writings by people whose worlds have come apart and they’ve rebuilt them,” said Mary Armstrong, a professor and director of the women studies program. “It’s incredibly profound.”
Kingston, who is currently on a reading tour of her new book, will be joined by Cuesta College English professor Tom Patchell and veterans Elijah Imlah and Robert Golling, who contributed to the book.
The reading will consist of an overview and description of how writing, meditation and community provide healing and conformation for veterans. Afterwards, people will read from their own pieces.
Kingston, along with Theresa Fitzgerald, a Buddhist monk, held meditation retreats for veterans, which was where she was able to collect many stories. This program has been running since the 1980s. Fitzgerald shared her thoughts on “Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace” and the impact a work like this one can have on the college population.
“As people are volunteering to go to war and finding out they are getting into much more than they bargained for,” Fitzgerald said. “To know what people have been through from every angle, as widows or family members, children or spouses; from reading this book you can really learn what brings someone to go to war, what the experience in war is and what the aftermath is like.”
On the meditation retreats, Kingston offered the writing portion. The two would spend the bulk of their time during the retreats with veterans to help them put their story together.
Kingston brings in a new definition of the word veteran in that she captures the experience of combat veterans, medics and others who have served in war. She also captures the experience of gang members, drug users, draft resisters, victims of domestic abuse and peace workers.
Kingston has received numerous awards, such as the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction for her other memoirs and fiction pieces like “The Woman Warrior” and “China Man.”