Voices of Conflict: Writing During Wartimes

Published, award-winning poet and Iraq War veteran Victor Inzunza has curated an afternoon of poetry written and read by veterans. Passion, fear, hope, and despair mingle in poems about war, friendship and deeply personal experiences. Participating writers include E.S. Smutny, Judy Grahn, Grady Smalling, Colby Buzzell, and Victor Inzunza.

Judy Grahn is internationally known as a poet, writer, and cultural theorist. Her writings helped fuel second wave feminist, gay and lesbian activism, and women’s spirituality movements beginning in 1965 when she picketed the White House for gay rights. She taught writing, literature, and spirituality in Oakland for fifteen years.  She has published three poetry collections, eight chapbooks, and two book-length epic poems. Judy has also published an ecotopia novel, short stories and articles, and four nonfiction books. Judy is a professor in the Women’s Spirituality Master’s Program at Sofia University in Palo Alto, CA.

Grady Smalling grew up in Seattle, Washington, graduated from Harvard University, and holds an MFA from the University of San Francisco. In 2003, he left an investment baking career to enlist in the Army’s infantry, deploying to Iraq in 2004 and 2005 as a special operator in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He lives in Cole Valley and is currently at work on his memoir Old Man’s Day.

E.S. Smutny, seafarer and failed poet.

Victor Inzunza grew up in Stockton, California. In 2001, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and served with 1st battalion and 2nd Marines. He did two tours in southern Iraq in 2003 and 2004. After his enlistment, he graduated from University of the Pacific with a BA in English and received an MFA in Poetry from University of San Francisco. USF chose Victor as its 1st Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellowship recipient in poetry. His work has appeared in the literary arts magazine Calliope, Pemmican Press, and After Action Review, an anthology by Warrior Writers. He works as a Policy Analyst for the veteran’s rights organization, Swords to Plowshares. Victor lives in San Francisco with his fiancée, Chelsea.

O.I.F. Veteran. Writer. Colby Buzzell is the author of My War: Killing Time in Iraq, Thank You For Being Expendable and Other Experiences, and Lost in America: A Dead-End Journey. Colby has been published in numerous anthologies. His work has appeared in Vice, Esquire, and other publications.