Archive - September 11, 2013

AWARD for Best Travel Book was first presented in 2001. Winner of the 2013 Best Travel Book is African Son by William J. Hemminger (Senegal 1973-75) published by University Press of America in 2012. William J. Hemminger is chair of the English Department and teaches English and French at University of Evansville in southern Indiana. He is also a poet, translator, musician, composer, and gardener. After graduating from Columbia University, he served in Senegal as a Peace Corps volunteer. Hemminger earned a Ph.D. in 1988 and since then has worked in Madagascar and Cameroon under the auspices of the Fulbright Program. Reviewers of this book write: African Son is one of the best travelogues written about African. Its fifteen insightful, well-written, and well-organized essays tackle important social, cultural, and philosophical issues such as social inequities, cultural differences, man and nature, death, and spirituality. The book skillfully blends honesty and realism: . . .