The Shape of Our Faces No Longer Matters

The Shape of Our Faces No Longer Matters: Poems by decorated Iraqi Freedom veteran Gerardo Tony Mena, the first book in a new military-service series. The Military-Service Literature Series is a continuance of the collaboration between Missouri Humanities Council, Southeast Missouri State University Press, and Warriors Arts Alliance that produced the anthologies Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors Volumes 1 and 2. The poet, Gerardo Mena, is a decorated Iraqi Freedom veteran. He spent six years in Special Operations with the Reconnaissance Marines. He was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal with a V for Valor for multiple acts of bravery while under fire. His work has been published in such journals as Baltimore Review, Ninth Letter, Prairie Schooner Online, Cream City Review, Poetry East, Cider Press Review, and War, Literature and the Arts, among others. His awards include the 2010 War Poetry award, Missouri Humanities Council s National Veterans Poetry Competition, the 2011 Penumbra Haiku Contest, and inclusion in Meridian s Best New Poets 2011 anthology. This is his first book. The Series will release a book per year, alternating between poetry and prose, and will focus on writing by military-service personnel and veterans rather than historical analysis. As Geoff Giglierano, Executive Director of Missouri Humanities Council, puts it, These are the people who made the history, not just generals and presidents.

Gerardo "Tony" Mena is a decorated Iraqi Freedom Veteran who spent six years in the Special Operations community with the Reconnaissance Marines as a Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman (SARC). During his tour in Iraq he was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal with a V for Valor for multiple acts of bravery. His poems have won or placed in several national contests, he's twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and he has pieces published or forthcoming from The New York Times, Ploughshares, Cream City Review, Ninth Letter, Diagram, Iron Horse Literary Review, and Best New Poets 2011, among others (check the publication page for more details).