About the Author

ED BROWN
is a Canadian Forces veteran of Tsimpshian First Nations and Scottish-Canadian heritage. During his 19-year military career, he served on peacekeeping missions to the former Yugoslavia, Israel, Syria and Turkey (in support of Afghanistan), and aboard HMCS Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg and Moresby. Ed began writing poetry as therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His early rap-like poems describe war scenes that haunted him - bloated bodies crawling with flies, a young boy pointing a machine gun at him, tracer bullets at night - and being irrationally enraged even years later by sounds or people's appearances that stirred up those memories. His lyrics reveal shock, darkest depression, rage, guilt, shame and thoughts of suicide. Then, reflecting a gradual healing, Ed's poems become unabashedly romantic, or spontaneously silly (written for his kids - about bears wearing underwear and such). Acceptance, gratitude, optimism and opportunity await each new day.

A Soldier's Fortune and Other Poems: Moving past PTSD and creating a fun-loving life

"There are at least two gifts in the poetic, and sometimes wrenching, accounts of a soldier's journey. The first is that the scenes of people caught up in war's horrors are brought vividly to life. The second is the gift of following a returning soldier through despair and personal struggles into final acceptance. With strong street language that often gains power from echoing the innocence of nursery rhymes, these poems of Ed's peacekeeping experiences, both narrative and psychological, paint an unforgettable picture of war and its human costs, and testify that those costs are not only to those in the line of fire." - Denis Donnelly, BMus, songwriter, poet, choir director, arranger, workshop leader

"With unflinching frankness and emotional honesty, Ed has described the horror of war as viewed through the eyes of a Canadian Forces peacekeeper. His experience of the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder that resulted, with nightmares, horrific images, violent emotions, confused thoughts, feelings of guilt and shame, and loss of sense of self, is painfully captured in his words, as is his struggle to find his way back from despair and feeling broken to rediscovering the "freedom to live and enjoy life." Ed extends a message of hope to others by describing what, in the end, made his journey back to health possible and worth navigating: his love for his children, the apprehension and joy of experiencing new love, the simple beauties of nature, and an irrepressible sense of humour and playfulness." - Dr. Agnes Sawchyn, psychologist

Read an Excerpt

Download this PDF sampler of A Soldier's Fortune and Other Poems.

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Reviews/Appearances

REVIEWS

• See above book description for reviews by poet Denis Donnelly and psychologist Dr. Agnes Sawchyn.

RECENT AND UPCOMING APPEARANCES

• On April 26th, Agio Publishing House hosted a lovely evening presentation called UNVEILING THE MIDDLE EAST with Ghada Alatrash (performing Arabic poems, short stories and translations) and Ed Brown (poems and commentary about PTSD by a former UN peacekeeper). More details at http://www.agiopublishing.com/unveiling.html.
• Stay tuned.