Our Best War Stories

Packed with MORE THAN 60 PRIZE-WINNING WORKS of WAR POETRY, SHORT FICTION, and NON-FICTION from TODAY'S WARS! Plus bonus supplementary materials, including writing prompts and insights from prize-winners!

Since 2016, administered by the Chicago-based literary journal Line of Advance, the Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Awards have served not only to highlight some of the best contemporary voices writing about modern wars—from Vietnam, to Iraq and Afghanistan and beyond! The prizes also creatively commemorate the life of a U.S. Army leader and writer, beloved by his family and troops.

In 2020, the annual competition expanded to include the voices of writers who are immediate family members of those serving, or who have served, in the U.S. military. Finalists are awarded cash-prizes, and publication in Line of Advance. Many have gone on to write and publish larger works, including award-winning novels and poetry collections.

Volume 2 comprises winners and finalists from 2021-2025.

Contributors to Volume 2 include:

• Brett Allen: Author of the novels Sly Fox Hollow and the memoir Kilroy Was Here

• Brian Kerg: Speculative-military-fiction writer, and a 2024 Marine Corps Association Distinguished Author

• Travis Klempan: Author of the metaphysical thrillers Have Snakes, Need Birds and Hills Hide Mountains.

• Erin Solaro: Author of Women in the Line of Fire: What You Should Know About Women in the Military

• Ryan Stovall: Author of Black Snowflakes Smothering A Torch: How to Talk to Your Veteran – A Primer

• J.B. Stevens: Author of the crime-fiction collection A Therapeutic Death, and the poetry collection The Explosion Takes Both Legs: Noir Poems from the War in Iraq

• Lisa Stice: U.S. Marine Corps spouse, and author of the poetry collections Uniform and Permanent Change of Station

• Charity Tahmaseb: Author of science-fiction and paranormal stories, including the Coffee and Ghosts series

• J.G.P. MacAdam: Author of the novelette A Square of Dirt

• Ben Weakley: Author of HEAT + PRESSURE: Poems from War

Other contributors to this volume include:

Conrelia Asjes • K.D. Battle • Benjamin Bellet • Molly Anne Blumhoefer • Kimberlee Bethany Bonura • David Buchanan • Tommy Cheis • Emma Comery • Kate Fosson • Robert Funderburk • Erick Garske • D.A. Gray • David Grubb • Bridget Hayes • Daniel Herbold • Scott Holleran • Shawn M. Jones • Connie Kinsey • Justin Larson • Gordon Laws • Kate Lewis • Kalvin Madsen • Lina Marino • Kari Ann Martindale • Mark Mellon • Halle Mosser • Hannah Morehead • James Musgrave • R.T. Notaro • Eben Ormston • Carolyn Phillips • Peyton H. Roberts • Blake Rondeau • Thomas Sheehan • Betty Stanton • Rebecca Thrush • Thomas Lambert • B.A. Van Sise • J. Villanueva • Meredith Wadley • Allison Whittenberg • Chloe Wright