Peace Corps writers

A Writer Writes My Freedom Summer Peace Corps Novel by Simone Zelitch (Hungary 1991-93) Over twenty years after my time in Peace Corps Hungary, I’ve finally published my Peace Corps novel.  No, it doesn’t take place at the University of Veszprem in 1991; it’s set in Mississippi. Waveland (The Head and the Hand, 2015) centers on a hapless, earnest, white volunteer during Freedom Summer. The book is about good intentions, culture shock, and eventual maturity. It’s about the stupid mistakes all outsiders make when we jump into deep water without knowing how to swim. In the summer of 1964, when the Freedom Movement decided to invite white volunteers to Mississippi, some called it a “domestic Peace Corps”. These young people from the North would staff libraries and daycare centers, teach literacy classes, and join on-going voter-registration drives in a campaign that culminated in a challenge to the all-white Mississippi delegation . . .

Lenore Myka is the author of King of the Gypsies: Stories, winner of the 2014 G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction, that will be published by BkMk Press this September. Her fiction has been selected as a notable short story by The Best American Non-Required Reading of 2013, and a distinguished story by The Best American Short Stories of 2008. She was the winner of the 2013 Cream City Review and the  Booth Journal Fiction Contests, a finalist for the 2013 Glimmer Train Open Short Story Contest, and a semi-finalist for the 2012 Iowa Short Fiction Contest. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in New England Review, Iowa Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Cream City Review, Booth Journal, West Branch, Massachusetts Review, H.O.W. Journal, Upstreet Magazine, Talking River Review, and the anthology Further Fenway Fiction. King of Gypsies is described this way: Set against a wild and haunting landscape, the short fiction in this collection spotlights the struggles of everyday individuals to . . .

“Publishing is a fundamentally unpredictable business. Often the only way to find out what will sell or not is by publishing the book.” – James O’Shea Wade, editor In this final lesson we will talk about: The Marketplace You and the Marketplace Your Query Letter Publish Now The Marketplace The type of writing we have been talking about these last ten weeks is “new journalism.” It – as you recall – was developed in the 1960s, but was labeled by TomWolfe in his anthology, The New Journalism, published in 1973. New journalism dethroned the novel as the number one literary genre. At that time a long list of best-selling books were published including In Cold Blood (1965) by Truman Capote, The Armies of the Night (1968) by Norman Mailer, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) by Hunter S. Thompson; and most recently, The Devil in the White City . . .

“I have no talent. It’s just the question of working, of being willing to put in the time.” — Graham Greene . In this lesson we are concerned with the two final aspects of your book — Climax and Ending. . Climax James Joyce of Ulysses fame said that all short stories moved to what he called an “epiphany.” What Joyce meant was a single, climactic moment of recognition or understanding by the protagonist or the readers. In this “moment of truth,” the protagonist sees himself or herself as he or she really is and faces the truth that results from the complications he has confronted. Even if, as in some of the more pessimistic literary fiction, the protagonist never achieves this self-insight, the readers do learn these truths about the protagonist. In turn, knowing these truths also enlightens the readers about themselves and their worlds.Your book, however, has a . . .

“You never cut anything out of a book you regret later.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald Three Types of Manuscripts We have reached the point when we should look at the three types of manuscripts. 1. The Working Manuscript is rough, like a piece of sculpture that is not quite finished. It closely resembles the final work, but needs work. It has jagged edges and lacks polish. 2. The Self-Edited Manuscript is the result of the work done when the writer moves from the role of writer to the role of editor. You are not only the first reader of your book you are the first editor. 3. The Final Manuscript is smooth and polished and the best that you can do. A final manuscript has all the finished parts, table of contents to bibliography to notes. It is ready to go (in your mind). In this lesson we are only . . .

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book. — Cicero, circa 43 BC In this lesson we are concerned with two aspects of your writing. Pacing Dialog Pacing of Your Story My wife likes to tell a story in great details giving it also a historical setting. For example, she might mention what happened to her when she took her clothes to the dry cleaners. Telling her tale, she will include historical data, asides, the cast of endless characters she saw or waved to, or thought about, even tangentially, from the time she left the house until she reached the cleaners two blocks away. Over the years of our marriage I have listened to many such endless narratives, so now I chime in as soon as she takes a breath with, “Faster! Funnier!” (Sometimes it works.) Pacing is everything in the narration of . . .

“The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one’s family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne Narrative This lesson is about one aspect of writing: narrative. Narrative is the core of writing what you want to write. By definition, narration puts a succession of events into words. Narration’s main concern is action; it moves your story. Simply put, narrative transforms past incidents into a carefully selected order giving momentum and suspense to all prose. What is Narrative? In your writing so far, I suspect that the majority have given descriptions: a window into the world of your Peace Corps experience. When done well, descriptive writing can give the reader the opportunity to see and understand unfamiliar objects, experiences, or perceptions. You have also taken familiar Peace Corps experiences and made them new and interesting by writing about . . .

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com, click on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards. • The Color of a Lion’s Eye: Memories of Africa by Jane F. Bonin (APCD/Malawi, CD/Niger 1994–99) Border Press Books July 2015, 125 pages $15.00 (paperback) . • Don’t Get Too Comfortable by Robert Emmet Buckley Jr.  (Micronesia 1968–70) Historical Inspitational Memoir May 2015 325 pages $9.99 (Kindle) . • Letters from Nigeria: Experiences of a Peace Corps Volunteer before and during the Nigerian Civil War by James King (Nigeria 1966–67), edited by Eileen M. Jones (James’s sister) Booktango 2013 335 pages $4.99 (Kindle) • Ad Nauseam: How Advertising And Public Relations Changed Everything by Jeff  Koob (Jamaica 1991–93) iUniverse . . .

“Every story has a storyteller.” – John Coyne For this lesson I will discusses: Point of view Scenes Chapters Point of View William Faulkner called “point of view” the source of a story. Point of view is a term that refers to the relationships between the storyteller, the story, and the reader. We can tell our stories from different points of view: – First-person – Third-person (On occasion you may find stories, usually short stories that are told from the second-person, “you,” which is unusual and extremely difficult to pull off as a narrative.) A story being told in the third-person point of view can be done in two ways: 1. The Omniscient Storyteller goes everywhere, knows everything, can read the minds of the characters, and comments when he or she wants. 2. The opposite of the Omniscient Storyteller is the Direct Observer. The Direct Observer has no memory of . . .

The current issue of The New Yorker carries a “Letter from Egypt” by Peter Heller (China 1996-98) It begins…. The city of Asyut sits in the heart of Upper Egypt, at a crescent-shaped bend in the Nile River, where the western bank is home to a university, a train station, approximately four hundred thousand people, and three shops in which Chinese migrants sell racy lingerie to locals. These shops are not hard to find. The first time I visited Asyut, I hailed a cab at the entrance of the city and asked the driver if he knew of any Chinese people in town. Without hesitation, he drove along the Nile Corniche, turned through a series of alleyways, and pointed to a sign that said, in Arabic, “Chinese Lingerie.” The two other shops, China Star and Noma China, are less than a block away. All three are owned by natives of . . .

Ron Singer’s interest in Africa  began when he was a PCV in Nigeria between 1964 and 1967. After obtaining a Ph.D. in English from the University of Chicago in 1976, he taught until 2008. He is the author of seven previous books, as well as hundreds of poems, stories and articles, many of them about Africa. Uhuru Revisited, that was published in February of this year, is the product of sojourns he made to  six African countries during 2010 and 2011. The following are excerpts from an interview with Ron, conducted by Laurel Johnson for the Midwest Book Review that was published in February 2014, and are re-printed by permission of the interviewer. • MBR: Your latest book is Uhuru Revisited: Interviews with African Pro-Democratic Leaders. What was the genesis of the book, and what process did you use to create this complex mix of background research, networking, travel, interviewing, . . .

“I’m not sure I understand the creative process. I’ve never given much attention to it. I understand how I work, but I really don’t know what psychological things happen in the creative process, or why someone creates.” Paddy Chayefsky, screenwriter Yesterday I discussed two of the components that contribute to an author’s voice: style and tone. I will discuss two others today – focus and creativity. FOCUS is what you select to write about. It is the piece of clothing that demands the most attention – a bright yellow dress, a smart suit. CREATIVITY is the choice of what details and examples you use in your writing. You might say it is the choice of which accessories to add to your outfit – a pair of earrings, a certain of tie. Focus All (or most) Peace Corps books are creative non-fiction, all based on historical facts within your own experiences. . . .

Rejection slip received by Rudyard Kipling: I’m sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don’t know how to use the English language.” from Rotten Rejections: A Literary Companion edited by Andre Bernard Finding Your Voice You have begun your book. You have decided on how you want to structure the book. Now you have to find your voice. For years the voice of nonfiction was an impersonal voice, attracting no attention. Fiction had a “voice” but not nonfiction. It wasn’t until the 1960s when Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, and a half dozen others gave birth to The New Journalism that voice began to receive attention in nonfiction. Generally what this meant was subjective nonfiction, nonfiction with an attitude, or subjective reporting. The New Journalism, coming of age with the “Me Generation,” morphed into what we have today, Creative Nonfiction. In Creative Nonfiction, we have the writer’s voice, a human touch in . . .

“Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part is that is original is not good.” Samuel Johnson Well, we’re RPCV writers and we are both good and original! One of the great gifts of the Peace Corps is that everyone’s experience is so special and individual. No matter when a person served in the Peace Corps, what year or where, the Volunteer comes home from the tour thinking “this is the Peace Corps!” and she or he is right. No two experiences are the same and, therefore, whatever you write is original. Now you have to make the telling of your story original. Planning and Writing Your Book In this lesson, I want to cover the structure of your book and look at three examples: Sarah Erdman (Cote D’Ivorie 1998-2000), Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) and Mike Tidwell (Zaire 1985-87). . . .

Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia – Revisited photos by Hoyt A. Smith (Ethiopia 1962–65) and narration by Theodore Vestal (Associate Director PC/Ethiopia 1964–66) Self-published 2014 $45.00 (Click for more information and to order) Reviewed by Wayne Kessler (Ethiopia 1964–66) • Hey RPCV! Go back to your country of service: see the changes, renew friendships, take photos and bring them back home. This is what Hoyt Smith’s  Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia — Revisited encourages us to do. You never know, returning could lead to more service and adventures. Hoyt’s photographs, along with Ted Vestal’s few words, present us with a unique book of 100 pages of historical photos from the 1960s combined with 95 pages of photos taken 50 years later. We can see what has changed and what hasn’t. The book will be most enjoyed by people who have lived in or traveled extensively in Ethiopia. Also, it will be of great interest . . .