John Coyne – Page 34 – Peace Corps Worldwide

YOU ARE NOT HERE by Eric Czuleger (Albania)

Aug 08 2023

You Are Not Here: Travels Through Countries that Don’t Exist by Eric Czuleger (Albania 2011-13) Independently Published 360 pages June 2023 $0.99 (Kindle); $18.27 (Paperback) American journalist Eric Czuleger dives into the twilight zone of statecraft by living in unrecognized nations in order to discover what a country really is. He begins his journey as a third-grade teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan at the height of the Kurdish independence movement. Banned by Turkey, he pivots to Kosovo where he reports during the nation’s 10 year anniversary celebration. Moving on to The Black Hole of Europe, Transnistria, he arrives in time for the Russian election. Finally, Czuleger infiltrates the world’s first crypto-anarchist nation, Liberland, where he parties with Bitcoin millionaires and falls into his most challenging position yet: Liberland Ambassador to Somaliland. There, in the never ending desert, he discovers the real cost of drawing a new line in the . . .

105-Year-Old RPCV Winifred Evans (Togo)

Aug 07 2023

Falls Church VA resident honored with Military Women’s Award August 3, 2023 On August 17, Winifred “Winnie” Evans (Togo 1962-64), a resident at Chesterbrook Residences Assisted Living Community, will receive the Military Women’s Memorial Award: Living Legend Proclamation. For Evans, this is just another achievement in her impressive over-a-century lifetime. At 105 years old, Evans has experienced and accomplished so many feats that the title “Living Legend” may be the best description for the Falls Church resident. A former nurse, author and supporter of various causes, Evans has expressed “genuine joy and heartfelt appreciation” upon receiving the Military’s Women’s Memorial Award, according to her niece, Patricia Garrett. “With enthusiasm, she exclaimed ‘I am overjoyed and thrilled to be acknowledged as a living legend,’” Garret recalled of Evans. The granddaughter of Horace Bennett, a sergeant in the Civil War under the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, Evans was born in 1917 . . .

Richard Wiley (Korea) to judge Six-Word Memoir of Peace Corps

Aug 07 2023

Deadline for submitting ‘memoir’ is Tuesday, August 8th. Judging your Peace Corps focus stories will be…… Richard Wiley, novelist and short story, first novel, Soldiers in Hiding won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He has published five other novels and a number of short stories. He is the 2023 Winner of Peace Corps Writers’ Award as “Writer of the Year”. Wiley holds a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M.A. from Sophia University in Tokyo; he earned his MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Richard was a PCV in Korea (1967-690 first novel, Soldiers in Hiding, won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Since then, he has published other novels and a wide variety of short stories. His subsequent novels: Fool’s Gold, Festival for Three Thousand Maidens, Indio, etc. have received positive reviews in the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. In 1989 he has been a professor . . .

Jerome Moore (Paraguay) writes DEEP DISH CONVERSATIONS

Aug 04 2023

Deep Dish Conversations: Voices of Social Change in Nashville by Jerome Moore (Paraguay 2015-17) Vanderbilt University Press May 2023 152 pages $19.99 (Kindle); $24.95 (Paperback) What does it mean to be a Nashvillian? A Black Nashvillian? A white Nashvillian? What does it mean to be an organizer, an ally, an elected official, an agent for change? Deep Dish Conversations began as a running online interview series in which host Jerome Moore sits down over pizza with Nashville leaders and community members to talk about the past, present, and future of the city and what it means to live here. The result is honest conversation about racism, housing, policing, poverty, and more in a safe, brave, person-to-person environment that allows for disagreement. This book is a curated collection of the most striking interviews from the first few seasons of the series, with a foreword by Dr. Sekou Franklin, an introduction by . . .

Former Nigeria & Uganda Country Director Delano Lewis Dies at 84

Aug 04 2023

Former NPR President and U.S. Ambassador Delano Lewis has died at 84 By Natalie Escobar Published August 2, 2023 Delano Lewis, a former president of National Public Radio and U.S. ambassador to South Africa, is dead at 84. He died on Wednesday while in hospice care in Las Cruces, N.M., according to the Las Cruces Bulletin. Lewis was named president of NPR in 1993, becoming the first Black person to take the role. He came to the job with a long resume, including many leadership positions within Washington, D.C.’s politics and business circles. Born in 1938 in Arkansas City, Kan., Lewis grew up in a segregated community, and became interested in civil rights law at a young age, according to the Bulletin. After graduating law school from the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka in 1963, he eventually took positions at the Justice Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Thus began a long . . .

HEY BUDDY! — New Book by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras)

Aug 03 2023

Hey Buddy! Portraits of Friends by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras 1975-77) Independently Published 150 pages July 2023 $18.00 (Paperback) Reviewed by Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971–73) Lihosit and I were contemporaries in the Peace Corps in Central America and both married women south of the border. Still, I didn’t connect with him until I became a writer after my international development career ended. Lihosit has written 19 books so far, and I’ve delighted in reading and reviewing several of them. I even used his book on writing and publishing a memoir to write my first book, Different Latitudes. After all he’s seen and done over the years, these memorable descriptions of his friendships seem a perfect time as he dedicates his book “For the Next Generation.” He also reflects on what makes friendships special, “Different friends have always been secret ingredients” Lihosit refers to himself as an “old Yahoo,” . . .

7 Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to Grenada for new school year

Aug 03 2023

PCVs in the news — by Linda Straker There will be 7 Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to different primary schools in Grenada when the new school year commences in September 2023. The 7 are already on island and will officially be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers in a Swearing-In Ceremony on Friday, 4 August 2023 from 10:30 am at the Grenada Red Cross Society, Upper Lucas Street, St George’s. They are part of the 93rd group of Peace Corps Volunteers, which includes 27 Volunteers assigned to the Eastern Caribbean. They are the second intake of Volunteers to Grenada and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean since the return to service in 2022. The program halted during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Peace Corps Volunteers returned to the Eastern Caribbean in May 2022 and have since then worked with local educators to support primary literacy. “Each of the trainees will commit . . .

Write A Six-Word Peace Corps Story . . . We’ll Award the Winner

Aug 02 2023

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway won a bet by writing the six-word story “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Tell us your Peace Corps focus story in six-words. I’ll post it on our site. jcoyneone@gmail.com Also send your name, country and Peace Corps years.

New List of RPCV & STAFF Authors

Aug 02 2023

New List of RPCV & STAFF Authors AUGUST 2023 Here is our new list of RPCV & staff authors we know of who have published two or more books of any type. Currently—in August 2023–the count is 505. If you know of someone who has and their name is not on this list, then please email: jcoyneone@gmail.com. We know we don’t have all such writers who have served over these past 60 years. Thank you.’ Jerome R. Adams (Colombia 1963–65) Tom Adams (Togo 1974-76) Thomas “Taj” Ainlay, Jr. (Malaysia 1973–75) Elizabeth (Letts) Alalou (Morocco 1983–86) Jane Albritton (India 1967-69) Robert Albritton (Ethiopia 1963-65) Usha Alexander (Vanuatu 1996–97) James G. Alinder (Somalia 1964-66) Richard Alleman (Morocco 1968-70) Hayward Allen (Ethiopia 1962-64) Diane Demuth Allensworth (Panama 1964–66) Paul E. Allaire (Ethiopia 1964–66) Jack Allison (Malawi 1967-69) Allman (Nepal 1966-68) Nancy Amidei (Nigeria 1964–65) Gary Amo (Malawi 1962–64) David C. Anderson (Costa Rica 1964-66) Lauri . . .

2023 Winner of Peace Corps Writers’ Award as “Writer of the Year”

Aug 01 2023

Richard Wiley (Korea 1967–69) Richard Wiley, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea, 1967-69, is an American novelist and short-story writer whose first novel, Soldiers in Hiding, won the 1987 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Since then, he has published seven other novels and a wide variety of short stories. His subsequent novels, Fool’s Gold, Festival for Three Thousand Maidens, and Indigo received favorable notice in America’s flagship book periodical the New York Times Book Review, and elsewhere. Despite this, only his more recent book Ahmed’s Revenge, published by Random House remains in print. Richard holds a B. A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M. A. from Sophia University in Tokyo. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he studied under the venerable John Irving. Since 1989, Richard has been a Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He . . .

CALLING ALL RPCV WRITERS!

Aug 01 2023

Fall RPCV Writers Workshop Are you writing a novel, a memoir, a scholarly essay, poems, and/or short stories? Whether what you’re working on is about the Peace Corps or not, you are invited to the Second Peace Corps Writers Workshop this October on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. The Workshop—open to a maximum of 15 RPCV writers—will be held from Thursday, October 5, to Sunday, October 7, at Shore Retreats on Broad Creek. The cost ranges from $100 to $500, depending on the applicant’s economic circumstances, and includes shared living quarters and most meals. If interested, please contact Matt Losak (Lesotho 1985-87) at: tokamaphepa@aol.com. The Workshop, organized by Peace Corps Worldwide and supported by the Peace Corps Fund, will be led by Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93), an English professor at West Virginia University, where he directs the Creative Writing Program and the West Virginia Writers’ Workshop. The author of . . .

2023 Winner of the Peace Corps Writers’ Publisher’s Award

Jul 31 2023

Building Community: Answering Kennedy’s Call Harlan Russell Green (Turkey 1964–66) Building Community: Answering Kennedy’s Call, Harlan Green’s memoir of his years working to build successful communities at home and abroad, shows what is possible when communities come together to improve their lives. He describes his work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural community development program in a Turkish village teaching vocational skills and convincing the villagers to develop new agricultural methods. Green also worked as a photographer and filmmaker for the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) in its earliest days lobbying communities to implement the Clean Air and Water Acts that were enacted to mitigate the growing air and water pollution. He joined Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers of America during its mid-1970s struggle organizing seasonal farm workers to better their living conditions; and documented the grape and lettuce boycotts, and Cesar’s charismatic leadership using . . .

OBLIVIA – A novel about a missing PCV

Jul 30 2023

The Peace Corps Failed to Properly Supervise Missing Volunteer and Lost Track of Him GAO-01-970R Published: Jul 20, 2001. Publicly Released: Jul 20, 2001. Walter J. Poirier, a Peace Corps volunteer, was reportedly last seen in La Paz, Bolivia in February 2001. This report reviews (1) whether the Peace Corps failed to properly supervise Mr. Poirier’s activities and (2) the actions taken by the Peace Corps and the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia when they learned that Mr. Poirier was missing. GAO found that Mr. Poirier failed to follow Peace Corps location and notification procedures. Although the Peace Corps Associate Director responsible for Mr. Poirier while he was in Bolivia knew that Mr. Poirier was not following these procedures, he took no steps to correct the situation and, as a result, lost track of Mr. Poirier. Furthermore, the Associate Director’s failure to adequately monitor Mr. Poirier contributed to the . . .

Marnie Mueller (Ecuador) Gives Reading in Sharon, CT, August 4th

Jul 30 2023

Marnie Mueller will be signing her new book, THE SHOWGIRL AND THE WRITER: A FRIENDSHIP FORGED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION (published by Peace Corps Writers) this coming Friday, August 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM as an invited author at the Hotchkiss Sharon Library’s yearly book event in Sharon, CT on the Village Green at 18 Main Street. https://hotchkisslibraryofsharon.org/book-signing-2023/ There is still time to get tickets. It is a wonderful event and a great opportunity to support a local library. Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963-65) was born in the Tule Lake Japanese American Segregation Camp. She is the author of three novels: Green Fires, The Climate of the Country, and My Mother’s Island. She is a recipient of an American Book Award, the Maria Thomas Award for Outstanding Fiction, Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, New York Public Library Best Books for the Teenage, a New York Times Book Review New and Noteworthy in Paperback, and a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great . . .

Jennifer Ching Peace Corps Response Volunteer (Ethiopia & Botswana)

Jul 29 2023

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Don Messerschmidt (Nepal 1963-65) From the Peace Corps Website, May 25, 2023 Jennifer Ching, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Ethiopia from 2016 to 2018, is now a Peace Corps Response Volunteer serving in Botswana. Jennifer, who is Chinese and lived in Malaysia as a child, shares why Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is important to her, how her Asian American identity impacted her service as a Volunteer, and her favorite cultural traditions. 1) Why is AANHPI Heritage Month important to you? AANHPI Heritage month is important because it increases the exposure and promotion of the presence of these groups of people in the social consciousness. It’s also important to me because it spotlights my people and culture, as well as our contributions in the United States, both historically and during the present day. . . .

Author - John Coyne