Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras) new PEACE CORPS BIBLIOGRAPHY
D.W. We have a definitive answer about "blogs" from the Peace Corps. I thought you, as well as others, would…
Using several sources, mainly Marian Haley Beil’s (Ethiopia 1962-64) listings, started in the 1979 Peace Corps Writers & Readers and currently with 452 titles and available at this website) as well as the 1989 annotated bibliography compiled by Robert B. Marks Ridinger, and also the Library of Congress bibliography, Larry Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) has published a handy short text entitled Peace Corps Bibliography which contains published work by volunteers and staff about the agency and/or their service.
The book is divided into three sections; (1) journals, letters and memoirs, (2) anthologies and (3) history. More than 230 volunteer and staff have written and published journals, letters and memoirs. There are more than a dozen anthologies. The book is available via Amazon.com books.
Prior to the Internet and Print-On-Demand books, few Peace Corps Volunteers published accounts of their experience. Of all the first-person accounts, Larry has found that only twelve percent (12%) were published before 1995. Of these, about two-thirds (68%) were published by commercial publishers and the remaining books were self-published, then called Vanity Publishing. During that era, as is today, self-published books were not carried in bookstores.
Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the number of published books by former Peace Corps Volunteers about their experience has risen exponentially, accounting for eight-six percent (86%) of all such books found.
However, chain bookstores did not carry the books and independent bookstores only carried them on consignment. Distributors did not list them. Unless the author has republished sometime after the invention of the internet, his or her title might well be lost.
Author Lihosit still recovering from his Peace Corps bibliography research.
Travel writer and Peace Corps historian Lihosit recently republished Travels in South America. His book Years On and Other Travel Essays received the 2011 Peace Corps Writers Travel Book of the Year award. In 2010 he published Peace Corps Chronology 1961-2010, a book that has received well-deserved praise.
Perhaps a future bibliography should include online blogs about their Peace Corps experiences by PCVs and RPCVs. My guess is there are at least as many of these as there are published memoirs. Has anyone attempted to compile a list of them?
D.W.
When we were gathering sites for our Unofficial Guide to Resource -See: http://peacecorpsworldwide.org/resources-unofficial-guide-to-peace-corps-and-its-history-
We attempted to find a list of blogs by PCVs and/or RPCVs. We were not successful Current serving Volunteers can blog, but there are restrictions and official guidelines on what they can post. if Peace Corps does have a list of them, we couldn’t find it and it is not published. The blogs are considered, unofficial. I have stumbled across some blogs from time to time, but Lawrence Lihosit is correct, they are hard to find and come and go. We did list the National Peace Corps Association as a resource. The have a list of country and project and geographical RPCV afflilated groups. Some of those groups have blogs. Good Luck.
An interesting idea! Be aware that the majority of blogs are by active PCVs. They normally start one during application or staging and end it at separation. There are many video blogs as well by active PCVs, posted on YouTube. Like ephemeral streams, they appear and disappear. What you are suggesting certainly does not exist. It could be useful…Go for it!
For those authors of published letters, journals and/or memoirs who I might have missed- please contact me by email so I may add your work. lflihosit@gmail.com
Thank you to Lawrence Lihosit for his Peace Corps Bibliography and his earlier book Peace Corps Chronicles. Also many thanks to all the contributors to the Peace Corps Worldwide site. You have helped all of us with an interest in the Peace Corps to appreciate the many fascinating voices of PCVs and RPCVs. Keep on telling us about published Peace Corps stories.
I’m particularly interested in Peace Corps related stories that have been told online, on the worldwide web, especially via blogs and video blogs. If you know about a blog (yours or someone else’s) that you’d like more folks to know about, send a link to me at deanw.jefferson@gmail.com . I am creating a list of online Peace Corps resources and would be happy to add your blog or other site to it. I will be sharing my list online on this site and others.
D.W.
Such a list would invaluable. Have you considered posting your request on Facebook? There are various RPCV groups, there. National Peace Corps Association has a Facebook page, but I am not sure exactly who may post there.
I am on Facebook and share, publicly, much RPCV information, such as Marian Haley Beil’s list, each month of new books. Would love to share your list, or link to your website, when and if you wish.
Also, Alana deJoseph who is producing a Peace Corps Documentary, The Towering Task, has a web site and is always looking for Peace Corps stories, documents, etc. https://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com
We have a Resource guide, here, too. It does not include blogs, I wish it did. http://peacecorpsworldwide.org/resources-unofficial-guide-to-peace-corps-and-its-history/
D.W.
We have a definitive answer about “blogs” from the Peace Corps. I thought you, as well as others, would find this really informative, as well as the links. Here is the email:
“We don’t keep a list of Volunteer blogs. Stories from currently serving and returned Volunteers are available at http://www.peacecorps.gov/stories.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and I’m happy to help.”
Cheers,
Teresa Claxton
TERESA CLAXTON
Marketing Specialist
Returned Volunteer, Moldova 2008-2010
Office of Third Goal & Returned Volunteer Services
Peace Corps Headquarters
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526
202.569.6003