International Writers Festival—Veteran Artists and Writers
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
Art & Design Building, Gillespie Gallery, First Floor, Art and Design Bldg Fairfax
Venue: Art & Design Building, Gillespie Gallery, First Floor, Art and Design Bldg, Fairfax
A conversation between veterans of the last 25 years, on negotiating the countries of the self, the artist, America and the world. James Baldwin talks about how each of us is our own country in his novel, Another Country. Developing that idea, we bring veteran artists and writers together to discuss their art, the language of their inner countries, and their service as Americans in another country. Featuring veterans Kat Reyes Colvert, Steven Luu, Ben Inks, and moderated by CAP (Ret.) Moira McGuire. The exhibition, ‘As you were’, features art by Steven Luu and CAP Moira McGuire; they will be in conversation with former servicemembers Kat Reyes Colvert and Ben Inks who graduated with MFAs from George Mason.
K. Reyes Colvert is a writer who resides in Alexandria VA. She served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy for longer than she intended. She is an adjunct faculty member at The George Washington University, where she teaches creative writing. She earned a bachelor's degree in International Affairs and a master's degree in Strategic Public Relations. She was the Alan Cheuse International Writer's Center Fellow for 2021 and received her MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University. She is presently seeking representation for her debut novel, The Ghost of Malabon, a coming of age story inspired by true events about a young woman as she searches for answers in the guerrilla resistance after the murder of her grandfather in Japanese occupied Philippines.
Benjamin Inks earned a Purple Heart in Afghanistan and an MFA at George Mason University. He combined these experiences by writing the military short story collection Soft Targets, which was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2023. He lives and works in Northern Virginia.
The wounds of combat have had a profound impact on Steven Luu. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he is a survivor of war and displacement. For nearly 44 years, he has been relocated across multiple places. When he was one year old, he and his family were placed in detention camps. At age seven, he escaped by boat, spending over two months on the open sea before rescue by the British Royal Navy and transfer to a refugee camp in Hong Kong. In 1991, Steven and his family arrived in the United States as refugees. After completing high school in 1995, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served for 20 years as a medic. For 11 of those years, he was stationed in Europe, including three years in combat zones. During multiple deployments to the Middle East, he witnessed many violent deaths, and these experiences had a lasting psychological impact.
He was first introduced to art through an intensive treatment program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Maryland. Steven recognizes art as a way to express traumatic experiences in a direct and nonverbal form. With a background in the medical field and as a wounded veteran, he relates closely to service members who return home with the effects of deployment, including guilt and isolation. His work focuses on mental health and communication through making. Over time, he earned a BA in Theology. After enrolling at George Mason University in 2017, he earned a BFA with a concentration in sculpture and completed his MFA at George Mason University in May 2026. As an artist, he advocates for veterans and encourages others to find a new way to express pain through art. Steven is known for producing serialized works. He believes repetition helps reduce the intensity of past experiences and serves as a disciplined way to understand material and process.
CAPT (Ret) Moira G. McGuire is a retired nurse officer with the US Public Health Service who has more than three decades of leadership across federal healthcare systems, national public health initiatives, and integrative wellness programs. As the former Chief of Integrative Health & Wellness at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, she developed and scaled pioneering programs addressing chronic disease, behavioral health, and the care of wounded, ill, and injured service members. As the former Chief of the Arts in Health Program at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, she led the creation of nationally recognized arts and health initiatives, authored operational and evaluation frameworks adopted across federal and civilian platforms, and advised on strategic policy for multiple federal agencies. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine and George Mason University’s Arts Management Program. She serves as the Co-Executive Director of the US Public Health Service Music Ensemble, the editorial board of the newly launched Perspectives on Arts in Health journal, and is a board member of the National Organization for Arts in Health. She is currently co-curating Veteran-themed art exhibits entitled Through the Trenches at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts and As You Were at George Mason University
