Kevin Powers
Kevin Powers
Kevin Powersis an American fiction writer, poet, and Iraq War veteran...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth11 July 1980
CountryUnited States of America
war yellow bird
I understood that 'The Yellow Birds' would be a peculiar representation of the experience of being at war. I intended it to be so.
boundaries prose
I guess I find the boundaries between poetry and prose to be somewhat permeable.
blessing matter able
As human beings, we have the blessing and the curse that we're able to adapt to almost anything. No matter how extreme the circumstances you're in, they become normal.
uncles military father
The male role models I had all seemed to have been in the military. My father served in the army. My uncle was in the Marine Corps. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII. There weren't any career soldiers in my family, but when I was young it seemed like a way of arriving at adulthood.
distinction remembered
There is a sharp distinction between what is remembered, what is told and what is true.
home soldier risk
It's not just: you get off the plane, you're back home, everything's fine. Maybe the physical danger ends, but soldiers are still deeply at risk of being injured in a different way.
memories powerful school
Noises and smells, those can bring back powerful memories. I remember when I was going to school one Fourth of July, and there were a lot of fireworks going off. I knew that I was in Richmond. I knew that I was a college student. But I thought people were shooting at me.
war light honest
I can't envision an honest war novel that left war in a positive light.
letting-go giving-up fall
You want to fall, that's all. You think it can't go on like that. It's as if your life is a perch on the edge of a cliff and going forward seems impossible, not for a lack of will, but a lack of space. The possibility of another day stands in defiance of the laws of physics. And you can't go back. So you want to fall, let go, give up, but you can't. And every breath you take reminds you of that fact. So it goes.
pain judging feelings
I had the feeling that if I encountered anyone they would intuit my disgrace and would judge me instantly. Nothing is more isolating than having a particular history. At least that's what I thought. Now I know: all pain is the same. Only the details are different.