Syracuse University Press announces that “Grace: A Cautionary Tale of Family and Mayhem” by William F. Polsgrove is the 2025 Veterans Writing Award winner.

Syracuse University Press, in cooperation with the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), established the Veterans Writing Award in 2019. The mission of the award is to recognize the contributions of veterans to the literary arts, shine a light on the multivalent veteran experience and provide a platform for unrecognized military writers.

Polsgrove grew up on his family farm in West Tennessee, where he learned the craft of storytelling from a whole host of characters, including a hard-drinking preacher-uncle, musician farmhands and his Baptist mother, who had a taste for the macabre. Polsgrove joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving tours in Germany, Alaska and Southwest Asia.

Retiring from the Army after 22 years, Polsgrove transitioned to the federal government, where he worked as a project manager for the intelligence community and retired as division chief for the Management and Engineering Division. He holds an master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University and an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University.

Polsgrove received the 42nd Annual New Millennium Award for Flash Fiction in 2016 and has published stories in the literary journal Embark. During his time in the military, he never ceased painting and writing. His stories and paintings tell the tales of the hardscrabble characters and forlorn landscapes of West Tennessee, the complex fabric of racial interactions, heartbreaking history and dirty-dealing political intrigue by petty demagogues.

Veterans Writing Award judge Maurice Decaul praised Polsgrove’s work, noting, “’Grace’  stands out because it feels scarily relevant, a reflection of our moment and a blueprint for what is possible. ‘Grace’ reminds us that great stories don’t just entertain; they illuminate the paths we might take.”