BUFFALO, NY – Canisius University will offer a Words After War writing workshop for local veterans, civilians and military family members, beginning September 2. Local writer and U.S. Air Force veteran Brian Castner will teach the 16-week long class, which will be held every other Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Local aspiring writers from the general public are also welcome to attend the workshop.
Castner is the author of The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows, an Amazon Best Book of 2012 and Chautauqua Scientific & Literary Circle selection for 2013. Previously, he served as an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1999 to 2007, deploying to Iraq to command bomb disposal units in Balad and Kirkuk in 2005 and 2006. After leaving the active military, Castner became a consultant and contractor, training soldiers and Marines prior to their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His writing has appeared in a number of national and regional publications, including Wired, The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Foreign Policy and Garry Trudeau’s The Sandbox anthology. Castner also writes Fever Dreams, a blog of observation and reflection, travel and the outdoors, and the publication process. Castner lives outside of Buffalo, New York with his wife and four sons.
Words After War is an emerging literary organization with a mission to offer opportunities for veterans, military families and civilian supporters to share their stories. Through high-quality literary programming, Words After War aims to provide veterans and civilians with opportunities to engage with conflict and war through the lens of literature.
The course fee for the Words After War workshop is $75, but scholarships are available for veterans and their family members. For more information or to register, please e-mail @email.
Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
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