Life as military spouse the topic for Randolph native’s book

A Randolph native has published a collection of poems based on her experiences as a military spouse.

Kelly, 31, of Virginia Beach, grew up in Randolph and wrote for a special teen section of the Daily Record while she was in high school.

After graduating from Randolph High School in 2002 as the class valedictorian, she attended Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, meeting her eventual husband William during that time.

Kelly and her husband met 11 years ago and have been married for the past six. He first deployed overseas in 2011, which is when Kelly began writing poetry.

“I was working on a novel at the time and had writer’s block,” Kelly said. “So I took a poetry workshop for fun.”

Soon Kelly felt confident enough in her work to submit some of her poems to literary journals.

“And they were accepted,” she said. “It was a shock.”

Soon she decided to turn her focus to poetry, sticking to the theme of military spouses, and eventually had a collection of about 50 poems.

That collection, “When the Men Go Off to War,” was published by the Naval Institute Press in September.

The poems inside chronicle Kelly’s experiences as a military spouse, based on her specific personal events, but they also touch on general themes.

“Feelings of struggling with loneliness,” Kelly said.

The book was named after the poem from the collection that received the most attention. The poem “When the Men Go Off to War” has received awards, been featured in the 2013 edition of Best American Poetry, and an animated video was created to accompany a reading of it online.

Kelly said writing about her situation while her husband was deployed was very therapeutic for her

“I started without the intent to publish,” Kelly said. “This was for myself, I wasn’t thinking about writing a book.”

Kelly is pleased the book has been resonated with military spouses.

“I hope it lets them know they’re not going through this experience alone,” she said.

She also hopes it will be a voice that accurately represents military spouses.

“Being a military spouse is not glamorous like it’s portrayed in movies. There’s tension, boredom, and ordinary days that are very lonely,” Kelly said. “Now there’s no longer just Hollywood movies and ‘Army Wives’ to represent us.”

Will Kelly returned from his second tour about seven months ago. He is currently an active duty F-18 pilot based out of Virginia Beach.

Go to http://www.victoriakellybooks.com/ to learn more or purchase the book.

Kelly’s debut novel, Mrs. Houdini, will be released in March 2016. She plans to write more fiction and poetry in the future.

“I think myself now a novelist and a poet,” Kelly said. “I have two kids now, but I still try to write every day.”

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com