Peace Corps writers

Truth Poker: Stories by Mark Brazaitis Pittsburgh: Autumn House Press January 2015 180 pages $17.95 (paperback) Reviewed by Clifford Garstang (Korea 1976-77) • Mark Brazaitis’s sixth book of fiction, Truth Poker, is a collection of superb short stories divided into three themed sections. In one sense, the fictions are a continuation of his past work, as these stories, like those in his 2012 collection, The Incurables, are also tied to the fictional town of Sherman, Ohio, and the campus of Ohio Eastern University. And, as in his earlier writing, Brazaitis draws on his own Peace Corps experience by featuring Volunteers in several of the stories, including those set in Guatemala, his country of service. Beyond the Peace Corps connection and the nominal ties to an Ohio community, however, the stories here do, for the most part, feel like they are part of a unified project, and on that basis alone . . .

Eileen Flanagan (Botswana 1984-86) is a Quaker writer and activist. Her new memoir, Renewable: One Woman’s Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope, tells the story of how living in an African village shaped her worldview and the difficultly she experienced trying to live simply back in the United States, especially after having children. Returning to southern Africa for her fiftieth birthday and learning how climate change was already affecting the region was part of what lead her to handcuff herself to the White House fence upon her return home. The book has been endorsed by Bill McKibben and other prominent environmentalists. Her previous book, The Wisdom to Know the Difference, was endorsed by the Dalai Lama. A graduate of Duke and Yale, Eileen leads the board of Earth Quaker Action Team, which uses nonviolent direct action to work for a just and sustainable economy. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and . . .

Mike Meyer (China 1995-07) just published In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China (don’t let the title frightened you away) and he just did himself, the Peace Corps, and everyone a great favor at the New York Public Library by giving an absolutely wonderful informative and honest presentation of his experiences in China as a PCV, and afterwards as a teacher living in Manchuria. If you can catch any of his readings and book signings that are coming up, please do, and read his new book, his first since his amazing book on the end of old Beijing. Yesterday, Bill Preston (Thailand 1977-80) sent me the link to the NPR interview with Leonard Lopate where he talked about his book and his experiences as a PCV  in China. You can listen to it here:http://www.wnyc.org/story/privatization-transforms-rural-chinas-landscape Really, do yourself a favor and try and catch Mike when . . .

Susanne Aspley (Thailand 1989–91) published her Peace Corps novel Ladyboy and the Volunteer with Peace Corps Writers this past November.  In her responses for this “Talking with . . . ” piece she chose to eschew  incorporating my usual author-interview questions  — and it all turned out quite well! Thanks Susanne.— Marian • I served with the Peace Corps in Nakorn Sri Thammarat, Thailand, from 1989 to 1991 as a Community Development Volunteer in a small fishing village on the Gulf of Siam. I taught English classes and began several duck farms. I also discovered the cure for cancer, slayed dragons and brought peace to the Middle East but no one believes me. I have a B.A. in English with a minor in Film. My English degree was very helpful for my teaching. I feel good about accomplishing the second and third goal of the Peace Corps, but failed miserably with the . . .

Michael Meyer talks about his new book, In Manchuria: A Village called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China, with Ian Frazier. Meyer’s account of the time he spent living and teaching school in the rice-farming community of Wasteland, in China’s rural Northeast, weaves together history, politics, and personal lives in a vivid drama of loss and change. Michael Meyer first went to China in 1995 with the Peace Corps. He received a Whiting Writers’ Award for nonfiction after publishing his first book, The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed. He has also held a Guggenheim Fellowship.  His stories have appeared in The New York Times, Time, Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Slate, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and on This American Life. He worked on In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China while in residence at the Cullman Center in 2010-2011. A staff writer for The New . . .

In December Nick Duncan (Uganda 2010–12) published his Peace Corps memoir Tales from A Muzungu with Peace Corps Writers. Here Nick talks about his Peace Corps service and his Peace Corps memoir. • Where did you live and work in-country? I lived and worked in Iganga, Uganda, which is in eastern Uganda. It is a transport hub for travelers and truck drivers coming and going from northeastern Uganda and Kenya to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, in the south-central part of the country. To be more specific, I lived and worked in Nabirye, Iganga, which is about a 5-minute ride from Iganga Town. . What was your Peace Corp project assignment? I was an economic development Volunteer tasked with helping The Hunger Project in a variety of ways. The Hunger Project is a non-profit organization head-quartered in New York that is  committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. . . . .

Beginning in 2006 USBBY has selected an honor list of international books for young people. The United States Board of Book for Young People (USBBY) Outstanding International Books List is published each year in the February issue of School Library Journal. The Outstanding International Books (OIB) committee is charged with selecting international books that are deemed most outstanding of those published during the calendar year. For the purposes of this honor list, the term “international book” is used to describe a book published or distributed in the United States that originated or was first published in a country other than the U.S. Lost Girl Found written by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89) won for Grades 6-8. In a review written by Anne Waliaula, from the University of Wisconsin, and published in the African Access Review on November 26, 2014, the reviewer wrote in part about this novel: The . . .

Death in the Dolomites (A Rick Montoya Italian Mystery) by David P. Wagner (Chili 1965-67) Poisoned Pen Press 2014 250 pages $24.95 (hardcover), $14.95 (paperback), $8.99 (Kindle) Reviewed by Geraldine Kennedy (Liberia 1962–64) • In the first chapter of Death in the Dolomites, David Wagner, with meticulous detail, guides us along the well-choreographed movements of an unidentified man clearly in the midst of nefarious activity. Without a single word spoken, we know a crime has been committed. The mystery man is taking great care to hide the evidence. It turns out to be the most captivating scene in this gentle mystery. Our hero, Rick Montoya, an Italian-American translator, is on a ski vacation in a charming Dolomite tourist village, home of his college roommate. An American banker is reported missing. Unbeknownst to Rick, his Italian uncle, a detective in Rome, has intervened to bring Rick’s services to the attention of . . .

The Award for Best Photography Book was first presented in 2009. This award for the best Photography Book was first presented in 2009. (If your Peace Corps photography book is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com The Award for Best Photography Book Timeless Photography of Rowland Scherman Foreword by Judy Collins by Rowland Scherman (PC Staff 1961-64) Peter E. Randall Publisher 2014

This award for the best poetry book was first presented in 1997. (If your Peace Corps book of poems is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com The Award for Best Poetry Book Every State Has Its Own Light by Sandra Storey (Thailand 1968-71) Word Poetry October 2014 Shaker Lane: Poems Beneath My Feet by Robert F. Nicholas (Philippines 1968-70) CreateSpace Januray 2014 Church of the Adagio: Poems by Philip Dacey (Nigeria 1963-65) Rain Mountian Press July 2014 The Consolations by John W. Evans (Bangladesh 1999-01) Trio House Press March 2014

The award for Best Travel Book was first presented in 2001. (If your Peace Corps travel book is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com The Award for Best Travel Book 100 Things to Do in Tampa Bay before You Die by Kristen Hare (Guyana 2000-02) St. Louis: Reedy Press June 2014

The award for Best Children’s Book was first presented in 2001. (If your Peace Corps children’sl book is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com The Award for Best Children’s Book Mr. McSnipper and Other Verses (poetry for children 9 and up) by Robert F. Nicholas (Philippines 1968-70) CreateSpace Januray 2014 A Hitch at the Fairmont (Mystery for children 8-12) by Jim Averbeck (Cameroon 1990-94), illustrated by Nick Bertozzi Atheneum Books for Young Readers June 2014 I Know How to Hola For children starting language-immersion school. (English and Spanish Edition) by Susanne Aspley (Thailand 1989-91), illustrated by Lucas Richards Self-published Lost Girl Found by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Kenya 1987-89) Groundwood Books 2014

Following is a list of the 2014 memoirs written by RPCVs. Nominate books from this list for the Moritz Thomsen Peace Corps Experience Award. (If your Peace Corps memoir is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com THE PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE AWARD was initiated in 1992. It is presented annually to a Peace Corps Volunteer or staff member for the best depiction of life in the Peace Corps. It can be a personal essay, story, novella, poem, letter, cartoon, song or memoir. The subject matter can be any aspect of the Peace Corps experience – daily life, assignment, travel, host country nationals, other Volunteers, readjustment. In 1997, this award was renamed to honor Moritz Thomsen (Ecuador 1965-67) whose Living Poor has been widely cited as an outstanding telling of the essence of the Peace Corps experience. The . . .

Following is a list of the 2014 novels and short story collections written by RPCVs. Nominate books from this list for the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. (If your novel or collection ((not Peace Corps memoir)) is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com. THE MARIA THOMAS FICTION AWARD is named after the novelist Maria Thomas [Roberta Worrick (Ethiopia 1971-73)] who was the author of a well-reviewed novel – Antonia Saw the Oryx First,  and two collections of short stories, Come to Africa and Save Your Marriage: And Other Stories and African Visas: A Novella and Stories, all set in Africa. Roberta lost her life in August, 1989, while working in Ethiopia for a relief agency. She went down in the plane crash that also  killed her husband, Thomas Worrick (Ethiopia 1971-73), and Congressman Mickey Leland of Texas. . . .

Following is a list of the 2014 non-fiction books written by RPCVs. Nominate books from this list for the Paul Cown Non-Fiction Award. (If your non-fiction book ((not Peace Corps memoir)) is not listed, and it was published in 2014, please email me at: jcoyneone@gmail.com.) Nominate your favorite book by emailing: jcoyneone@gmail.com. First given in 1990, the Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award was named to honor Paul Cowan, a Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Ecuador from 1966 to 1967. Cowan wrote The Making of An Un-American about his experiences as a Volunteer in Latin America in the ’60s. A longtime activist and political writer for The Village Voice, Cowan died of leukemia in 1988. Murder In Benin: Kaztge Puzey’s Death in the Peace Corps (Peace Corps biography) by Aaron Kase (Burkina Faso 2006-08) Self-published 2014 Young Widower: A Memoir By John W. Evans (Bangladesh 1999-01) Winner of the River Teeth . . .