The mission of the Deadly Writers Patrol magazine is to provide a forum for writings that originate from the Vietnam experience and to encourage greater understanding of the changes wrought by the Vietnam era. We are particularly interested in writing by Vietnam veterans,but our pages are open to anyone concerned with how the Vietnam era shaped the world in which we live. We are interested in writing that looks both outward and inward,grappling with what we were,what we became,and what we might be if we deal honestly with the things we’ve ignored.
The DWP magazine grows out of the Deadly Writers Patrol,a veteran-centered writing group sponsored by the Madison,Wisc. Veterans Center. From the beginning,the DWP supported veterans’attempts to give voice to their disheveled feelings. Much of the writing in the early days involved Vietnam,but we came to understand that everything we wrote –stories about life before the war,our dreams,our response to the 1970s and 1980s and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan –had some connection with our individual and collective experiences of the Vietnam war. Even when Vietnam wasn’t directly mentioned in a story,it provided the backdrop,the curtain that rose and fell,the cord that pulled the string.
We believe that writing can be a mirror into the deepest corners of our spirits and our psyches,that it can reflect back what is found there. It can express the reality of suffering,and explore the possibility of healing. At times writing can help us resolve problems and achieve a deeper understanding,but it can also bring us face to face with the parts of life that will always remain a mystery.