Our Mission
We believe in the transformative power of story.
Through dialogue, workshop, and performance, veterans, first responders, and their families gain new understanding about themselves and the world around them. Empowered, they seek integration back into the community, and at the same time the community gains new perspective and understanding about what it means to serve.
Our Mission
Our Projects
Veteran's Creative Writing Workshop
All Writers WelcomePoetry, Prose, Creative Nonfiction and everything in between...
Thursdays 4pm - 6pm PST
Online via Zoom.
Must be registered to join.
The Letters Project
ACROSS TIME: LOVE & HUMANITY DURING WAR
An original theatrical production inspired by letters from past wars and conflicts that provide a poignant window into the hopes, fears, and experiences of those who served.
Read more about the play, the cast, and the veteran playwrights at the link below.
The Letters Project is a collaboration of ArtsUP! LA & RETURNING SOLDIERS SPEAK.
Veteran Short Film Project
ArtsUP! LA and Veterans Empowerment Theatre is launching the inaugural Veteran Short Film Project. The project provides military veteran writers with screenwriting workshops to hone their skills, learn more about the film-creation process, and to fully produce one selected screenplay. Military Veterans from all over the country are invited to submit their short film screenplay for consideration.
Returning Soldiers Speak is a partner in this project.
Our Projects
Veteran's Creative Writing Workshop
All Writers WelcomePoetry, Prose, Creative Nonfiction and everything in between...
Thursdays 4pm - 6pm PST
Online via Zoom.
Must be registered to join.
The Letters Project
Across Time: Love & Humanity During War
An original theatrical production inspired by letters from past wars and conflicts that provide a poignant window into the hopes, fears, and experiences of those who served.
Read more about the play, the cast, and the veteran playwrights at the link below.
The Letters Project is a collaboration of ArtsUP! LA & RETURNING SOLDIERS SPEAK.
Veteran Short Film Project
ArtsUP! LA and Veterans Empowerment Theatre is launching the inaugural Veteran Short Film Project. The project provides military veteran writers with screenwriting workshops to hone their skills, learn more about the film-creation process, and to fully produce one selected screenplay.
Returning Soldiers Speak is a partner in this project.
The Latest
First-Time Playwright Speaks
Ken Klemm
My First Time Writing A Stageplay
Benjamin Fortier
Never the Same, Again
Leilani Squire
Patriotism — A Better “ism”
Lester Probst
Our Approach
Since the inception of Returning Soldiers Speak, we have held the belief that a neutral space allows our veterans, first responders, and their families to express their views and stories without fear of being judged or rejected. If we had said, “We are a liberal organization,” then the veteran with conservative views might have turned away. If we had said, “We are a conservative organization,” then the veteran with liberal views might have fled. It does not matter to us if the veteran’s views are to the left or to the right or in the middle of the political spectrum.
What has always mattered is that we offer a safe place for veterans to write their stories, and a venue for them to tell their stories, to speak their truths.
Our Approach
Our Projects
The Letters Project
ACROSS TIME: LOVE & HUMANITY DURING WAR
An original theatrical production inspired by letters from past wars and conflicts that provide a poignant window into the hopes, fears, and experiences of those who served.
Read more about the play, the cast, and the veteran playwrights at the link below.
The Letters Project is a collaboration of ArtsUP! LA & RETURNING SOLDIERS SPEAK.
Veteran's Creative Writing Workshop
All Writers WelcomePoetry, Prose, Creative Nonfiction and everything in between...
Thursdays 4pm - 6pm PST
Online via Zoom.
Must be registered to join.
Veteran Short Film Project
ArtsUP! LA and Veterans Empowerment Theatre is launching the inaugural Veteran Short Film Project. The project provides military veteran writers with screenwriting workshops to hone their skills, learn more about the film-creation process, and to fully produce one selected screenplay. Military Veterans from all over the country are invited to submit their short film screenplay for consideration.
Returning Soldiers Speak is a partner in this project.
Our Projects
The Letters Project
ACROSS TIME: LOVE & HUMANITY DURING WAR
An original theatrical production inspired by letters from past wars and conflicts that provide a poignant window into the hopes, fears, and experiences of those who served.
Read more about the play, the cast, and the veteran playwrights at the link below.
The Letters Project is a collaboration of ArtsUP! LA & RETURNING SOLDIERS SPEAK.
Veteran's Creative Writing Workshop
All Writers WelcomePoetry, Prose, Creative Nonfiction and everything in between...
Thursdays 4pm - 6pm PST
Online via Zoom.
Must be registered to join.
Veteran Short Film Project
ArtsUP! LA and Veterans Empowerment Theatre is launching the inaugural Veteran Short Film Project. The project provides military veteran writers with screenwriting workshops to hone their skills, learn more about the film-creation process, and to fully produce one selected screenplay. Military Veterans from all over the country are invited to submit their short film screenplay for consideration.
Returning Soldiers Speak is a partner in this project.