David Surface, left, a writing teacher and published author, says that the program should not be classified as therapy but it can be “cathartic.”
“It was a part of my life, it still is, and it was very liberating to finally have a way to express it,” the 59-year-old Phair said.
The account came out of the Veterans Writing Workshop, where veterans from World War II through Iraq and Afghanistan gather Tuesdays ― including Veterans Day ― to tap their memories of military life and commit them to paper for posterity.
About 200 vets, eight or 10 at a time, have gone through the free, 10-week workshop, funded by Fordham University and held on its suburban campus 25 miles north of New York City.
“These men all have this shared experience that really is unlike any other experience that people have,” said instructor David Surface, a veteran writing teacher and published author. “We fire up the coffee pot and they try to make some sense of it and communicate that to other people.”
The Fordham workshop, which began in 2010, is similar to others that have sprouted across the country. The theory is that veterans are more willing to talk ― and therefore write ― about their military experience in the company of other veterans.
Surface said he tries to show the veterans “that if you can tap into your own experience and your own memories and get those on the page, you can create some very compelling and vivid writing.”
