Brian Turner has been, among other things, a DJ, an English teacher and a pickler, a bass guitar instructor and a soldier: he spent seven years in the Army, with deployments as an infantry team leader in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq.

Submissions are being accepted through Aug. 15 for the Veterans Story Contest, which is open to veterans or current service members of any branch of the United States military currently living in South Dakota.

The winner of the second annual SDHC Veterans Writing Prize wrote his essay through tears, still shaken by a 30-year old trauma.

Robert Olen Butler’s military service in Vietnam informs much of his most recognized writing.

In August of 1969, a year after leaving his home in Worthington, Minn. for basic training and life-threatening duty in war-torn Vietnam, Tim O’Brien was finally sent to the rear.

The 2017 Festival will feature a strong lineup of Veteran authors and an opportunity for aspiring Veteran writers to show the professionals what they can do.

"The Reunion" by James R. Teller won the 2016 Veterans Writing Prize, coordinated by the South Dakota Humanities Council.

The first Veterans Writing Prize will highlight the writings of South Dakota veterans and service members. A $1,000 cash prize is offered to the winning author.

The SDHC Lending Library features "The Forever War" by Dexter Filkins, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist while reporting for the New York Times.