war
-
Soldiers on Donkeys, Corpses in Pools
Peter van Agtmael “has no desire to be at war.” But he spends his life documenting it with his camera, in all its manifestations: from the barracks to the homes of veterans. In the introduction to his recent book-length collection, Disco…
-
ISIS: A Rumpus Roundup
The Islamic State of Iraq in Syria, known better as ISIS, has operated in Syria and Iraq since 2003 as an offshoot of al-Qaeda—at least until al-Qaeda disavowed any connection. The military organization is neither a political party nor religious…
-
Great American Novels and Wars
In his newly published The Novel: a Biography, Michael Schmidt takes some time to study how the wars of the 20th century shaped the great American novel, citing Norman Mailer, Kurt Vonnegut, and Joseph Heller among those that best dealt…
-
Remembering the Blue and the Gray
Memorial Day is a time of both national reflection and diverse local tradition. In a piece connecting poetry and community storytelling, The Atlantic offers some literary history in observance of this past weekend’s holiday. Two years after the end of…
-
PJ Harvey Tuesday #9: “The Last Living Rose”
In 2011, two decades after her debut, PJ Harvey released what might actually be her best album ever: Let England Shake. Recorded in a church in Dorset, LES takes as its subjects homeland and war.
-
X. My Soldier, Iraq, and Contract Marriage
The incinerator burned amputated body parts. It sat immediately next to the barracks in Baghdad.
-
The Rumpus Interview with Masha Hamilton
Journalist and novelist Masha Hamilton sits down with Maud Newton to discuss the influences behind her latest book, What Changes Everything, the intricacies of writing about conflict, and how her work in war zones has helped shape her fiction.
-
Why I Chose Bangalore by Kerry James Evans for the Rumpus Poetry Book Club
I wasn’t thinking about the Syrian Civil War and the US’s possible involvement in it when I chose Kerry James Evans’s debut collection, Bangalore , for the Rumpus Poetry Book Club
-
The Rumpus Interview with Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Memoirist, playwright, and short story writer Saïd Sayrafiezadeh discusses his choice to link stories together using an unnamed war, writing without a game plan, and the stasis in his own life that ultimately took shape in the lives of his…
-
First-Class Guilt
But I had deployed only once to Iraq. When so many others, including friends of mine, had suffered two, three, four, five, or more deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, why should I be the one enjoying the comfort of flying…
-
Colt 1911: A Partial Timeline
“Eli. The gun is in my bedroom. There are bullets in there, too. I don’t need to worry about you guys, do I?”
-
Memorial Day, 2013
Happy Memorial Day! To start the holiday off right, an illustration from Rumpus illustrator-in-chief Jason Novak: