Phil Klay
Phil Klay
Phil Klayis an American writer and United States Marine officer who won the National Book Award for fiction in 2014 for his first book-length publication, a collection of short stories, Redeployment...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
certainly clarity definitely found patriotism tyranny
I've certainly thought a lot more about things like tyranny and patriotism and violence. I think I found some kind of clarity - definitely a thicker understanding.
aggressive command great iraq journalism marines pieces soldiers sudden
A lot of the great pieces of journalism from Iraq showed how important command influence was in violent, aggressive environments, where Marines and soldiers had a constrained set of choices to make in sudden moments.
goes sees skeptical truth veteran war
There's a tradition in war writing that the veteran goes over and sees the truth of war and comes back. And I'm skeptical of that.
war
I've been asked what differentiates war literature as a category, and I don't think there is anything.
agree allow countrymen ensuring fit four greater life lives next sign
It's a professional military. You sign up and agree to allow your countrymen to use your life as they see fit for the next four years. And I think we all should have a greater role in ensuring that we use those lives wisely.
anybody both ended happened iraq joined serving tendency war
There's a tendency to look at anybody who joined the military as if they underwrote everything that happened policy-wise. That's not really the case. I have a friend who both protested the Iraq War and joined the military, and ended up serving two deployments in Afghanistan.
citizens ideals life physical risk safety supposed
You're not supposed to risk your life just for the physical safety of American citizens - you're supposed to risk your life for American ideals as well.
abstract confused felt interested puzzle question represent stories troubled war wrote
I started with things that I was troubled by or confused by or interested in, and then I wrote stories to try to puzzle my way through it. But the question is not how to represent war, because it's an abstract thing that's felt differently for all the characters.
family known survivors truly unable
If we fetishize trauma as incommunicable, then survivors are trapped - unable to feel truly known by their nonmilitary friends and family.
certain war
You come back from war, and you have a certain authority to talk about war.
responsibility
Responsibility and accountability is a big part of being in the military.
among corps somewhat supposed
I went straight from the Marine Corps to the MFA. The way that you would express things among Marines is somewhat different than the way you're supposed to express things in a creative-writing workshop.
certainly figure people stories war
People should be able to tell stories that are important to them to try and understand what they mean. I don't think you figure anything out on your own. Certainly not war stories.
craft meet near notion obsessed people problem suppose surrounded talk writers
It's not a problem to be surrounded by other writers if that's the craft that you're doing. I suppose if you get obsessed with the notion of being a writer more than the writing itself, that would be bad. But I live near really smart, thoughtful people who take writing very seriously, and I can meet them for breakfast and talk books.