A military veteran and PhD researcher is travelling to the Library of Congress to study American veterans’ stories, then using them to help ex-service personnel in Northern Ireland break a damaging silence about their service. The problem is stark: in post-conflict Northern Ireland, many veterans fear reprisals or misunderstanding if they speak openly about their military past. This normalised silence compounds the already difficult transition to civilian life. The researcher’s own experience as a veteran informs the work. The project fills a gap in knowledge about how theatre—specifically storytelling, writing, and performance—can help veterans resettle after conflict. If successful, the research will produce a co-created theatre piece with Northern Irish veterans, drawing on US examples from a society where veterans have received more recognition in recent years. The creative practice itself will be studied as part of the PhD. The findings could inform how community services, military training, and resettlement programmes support veterans in divided societies. The work will be shared with the Library of Congress and other institutions that work with soldiers and veterans.
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I am applying to the Library of Congress to research the Veterans History Project and related material, which I intend will contribute to a creative research project for veterans in Northern Ireland. My research as a PhD researcher and military veteran highlights the difficulties that veterans can face resettling after military service and conflict. These issues are compounded in a post-conflict setting such as Northern Ireland where silence about service is normalised for fear of reprisals or misunderstanding. The theatre offers surprising solutions to address some of these issues through such mechanisms of storytelling, writing and watching drama and performing. My PhD will include a theatre based creative practice co-produced with veterans that will add to knowledge on resettlement of veterans, military training and recruitment, and community services for veterans. The research at the Library of Congress will provide relevant but sufficiently distant examples of veterans, from a society where veterans have in more recent years been better recognised. The comparison will be a useful starting point for veterans in Northern Ireland to discuss veteran experiences and to reflect on and open up about their own experiences. This will be used to stimulate a creative practice that can use the US examples or their own experiences. The products of this creative practice will be studied as part of my PhD and shared with the Library of Congress and other institutions that deal with soldiers and veterans.
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