Starting in the 1990's, women became eligible for a greater number of positions in the military than ever before, including, since 2013, combat. What have been the challenges for these women? Eight local veterans shared their stories with a group of New Mexico poets recently, and the poems inspired by these conversations make up Women on War, presented in early March by the Albuquerque organization Artful Life.
The founder of Artful Life, poet Valerie Martinez, says the performance is "part poetry reading, part spoken word, and a little bit theater." She hopes it will offer the public an opportunity to share the experience of women veterans.
In this longer version of the interview, Valerie describes the unusual collaborative process she and her fellow poets used to create the script for Women on War.
