Voices in Wartime: The Anthology

by Andrew Himes (Editor)

Essays. Memoir. The VOICES IN WARTIME ANTHOLOGY comprises poetry, essays, and narratives based on interviews conducted for the feature-length documentary film Voices in Wartime, which opened in theaters nationwide April 8, 2005. "The 240 pages of this anthology do not contain the words of politicians or pundits," said Andrew Himes, editor of the anthology and executive producer of the film Voices in Wartime. "Instead, it features active-duty soldiers, veterans, torture victims, war correspondents, the families of the disappeared and the dead, poets, peace activists-the compelling responses of unique, individual human beings to the experience of war." Chris Abani, Wilfred Owen and Jonathan Schell are among the contributors.

Genres: Poetry, War

235 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I am a Seattle writer with a unique perspective on fundamentalism and evangelicalism, as the son, grandson, great-grandson, brother, nephew, and cousin of Baptist preachers. My granddad, John R. Rice, was a prominent fundamentalist leader, founder of The Sword of the Lord newspaper, and mentor to many younger preachers such as Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell. My newest book is The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family. I was a youthful rebel first arrested for "illegal use of a bullhorn" in 1969 as an antiwar protester, and then I tried (and failed) to overthrow the imperialist bourgeoisie during the 70s. Only later in life did I begin a spiritual journey to reconnect with and redefine my family’s spiritual heritage.

I produced the 2004 film Voices in Wartime, a documentary that uses poetry to explore the trauma of war. I was co-editor of the Voices in Wartime Anthology, and director of the short film on PTSD, Beyond Wartime. Then, in 2005 I founded the Voices Education Project, which amplifies the voices of veterans and civilian witnesses to war, in order to heal the wounds of war and create a more peaceful world.

In the early 90s I helped pioneer Microsoft's embrace of the Internet by managing the company's first web team, and was a founding editor of the Microsoft Developer Network. In the 80s I founded the premiere Macintosh programming magazine, MacTech Journal, and was the author of books on multimedia authoring, scripting languages, hypertext, and expert systems -- the technologies that were the foundation of the modern Internet.

My wife, Alix Wilber, spent the past eight years working at the renowned Seattle literary center, Richard Hugo House, and we live with our cat Mehitabel and poodles Binti and Moby (the Great White Poo.) I am the dad of Amber Himes Cornell and the granddad of beautiful baby Chiara who has a fantastic giggle. Oh, yes, (in the spirit of full disclosure) I also created the Demented Breakfast Cereal Treat Contest, for which I have no excuse.

Reviews

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only loosely military history, in that there are some primary sources concerning various experiences of war. A good collection on what war does or doesn't do to the psyche, though. Diverse voices — survivors, a psychologist, a war correspondent. The poetry is of various quality levels — I got more out of the prose.