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MWSA Review
Holes in Our Hearts: An Anthology of New Mexican Military Related Stories and Poetry is a moving book with a diverse collection of short stories and poems. Compiled by SouthWest Writers and edited by Jim Tritten, this anthology weaves together the written perspectives of a group of New Mexicans.
This anthology provides a glimpse into what it means to serve one’s country—from the perspective of those who served as well as their family members and caregivers. Within these pages, you’ll find a wide variety of emotions. Some pieces are humorous, while others are gut-wrenchingly personal. Fear, camaraderie, loss, and resilience are all explored. The searing honesty of these narratives is both moving and enlightening.
I recommend Holes in Our Hearts to anyone who is interested in hearing the authentic voices of New Mexico veterans.
Review by John Cathcart (February 2024)
Author's Synopsis
Holes in Our Hearts provides snapshots of military life and how the military has affected lives. It is written from the perspective of New Mexico active-duty military members, veterans of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, as well as their family members and caregivers. Eight of the authors had never been published before, and another dozen had only seen minor letters or book reviews in print. Two of the veterans do not own computers, and one is legally blind.
Some of the writing represents the first time many authors have revealed their innermost thoughts to anyone. Some of the stories are written by established authors with numerous publishing credentials. All are worth your time to learn why we continue to honor the military on behalf of a grateful nation.
Very few of the original submissions were camera-ready. Jim Tritten fully edited all prose. Dan Wetmore oversaw all poetry submissions and adjusted text as needed. Joe Badal assisted with prose editing and wrote the Foreword, which was used as the back cover material and the book description on Amazon. Jim researched military affiliations and terminology where necessary to ensure the correct acronyms, names, and dates were used. Jim also recruited additional volunteers who converted hand-written submissions. Jim then fully edited the digital versions produced by those volunteers. Note: all poetry formatting was as submitted by the author - many poems do not have traditional punctuation or formatting, as desired by the authors.
The anthology was funded by New Mexico Arts (NMA), a state government organization in the Department of Cultural Affairs. Copies were provided by NMA to all public libraries in New Mexico.
The contributions are organized alphabetically with memoirs, poetry, essays, humor, fiction, etc. mixed. A total of ninety-five written contributions were accepted from fifty-four New Mexicans. Each represents a tale worth reading, internalizing, and contemplating the experiences we as a nation expect our young men and women, their families, and their caregivers to deal with — sometimes long after their military service has ended, and nothing is left but holes in our hearts.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Other—Anthology
Number of Pages: 332
Word Count: 77,000