Peace Corps writers

More significant than similarities with the Lost Generation is an examination of why writers went overseas in the first place, and how they wrote about their expatriate world. It is generally accepted that many members of the Lost Generation rebelled against what America had become by the 1900s: a business-oriented society where money and a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant work ethic dominated the culture. To these writers, America was not a “success story.” It was a country devoid of a cosmopolitan culture. Following World War I, a segment of American writers sought to escape that rigid style of life and literature. Europe promised them a way out. Lost Generation writers wanted to be apart from America in terms of what they wrote, how they wrote, and where they wrote. These disenfranchised artists packed their bags and traveled to London and Paris in search of literary freedom and a more diverse way . . .

Peace Corps writers are like their predecessors in Paris in four ways. 1) Both groups wrote about, and explained to an American audience, the world of an expatriate. Hemingway wrote of Paris and Spain while Mark Brazaitis writes of Guatemala; Hemingway wrote of big game hunting in East Africa and Norm Rush writes of white racists in Southern Africa; Fitzgerald wrote of wealthy, bored Americans on the French Riviera and Simone Zelitch writes of survivors of the Holocaust leaving Hungary for Haifa. Other Peace Corps writers regularly find equally rewarding subject matter. Paul Theroux writes of Indians in Kenya in his first novel set in Africa; Richard Wiley about Korea and Koreans; P. F. Kluge about islands in the sun in the Pacific; and Mark Jacobs, who was a Volunteer in Paraguay and a foreign service officer in his Peace Corps country as well as Turkey and Spain, has written about . . .

In the 1920s Gertrude Stein coined the phrase “the lost generation.” It was repeated by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises, his famous novel of Paris, and is often used to describe the intellectuals, poets, artists, and novelists who rejected the values of post World War I America. They relocated to Paris and quickly adopted a bohemian lifestyle of excessive drink, messy love affairs, and the creation of some of the finest American literature ever written.    We give this lost generation of American writers in Europe a prominent place in the landscape of 20th century American life and culture. They led the way in exploring themes of spiritual alienation, self-exile, and cultural criticism, leaving a distinct mark on our intellectual history. They expressed their critical response in innovative literary forms, challenged traditional assumptions about writing and self-expression, and paved the way for subsequent generations of avant-garde writers. Myth . . .

Cynthia Morrison Phoel’s (Bulgaria 1994-96) new collection Cold Snap is out, published this June by Southern Methodist University Press. In his review of the book on this website (which is also quoted on the flap copy of Cynthia’s book) Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93) writes, “If Lorrie Moore had served as a Peace Corps voluneer in Bulgaria, she might have written Cold Snap.” Also on the flap copy, Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65) writes: “I am greatly impressed with Cold Snap, a look at Bulgarian life–family life, school life, frustration, even passion and desire. Cynthia Phoel writes from inside this culture, convincingly and with real insight.” Not bad praise from two great RPCV writers. Cynthia was stationed in a Bulgarian town not unlike the one in her stories. She holds degrees from Cornell and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and her stories have appeared in the Missouri Review, Gettyburg Review, and Harvard Review. . . .

Reading an article by Sue Halpern in The New York Review of Book (June 20, 2010) entitled, “The iPad Revolution” I came across this interesting paragraph: “According to the Association of American Publishers, book sales fell nearly 2 percent last year, to $23.9 billion. Educational books and paperbacks took the biggest hit. Their downward trajectory seemed to confirm what Steve Jobs said to The New York Times back in early 2008, when he reflected on, and then dismissed, the newly released Kindle, a device which he said would go nowhere largely because Americans have stopped reading. ‘It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,’ Jobs told the Times. ‘Forty percent of the people in the US read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.’ “Imagine his surprise, just . . .

This is a list of the books that are the finalists for Peace Corps Writers Awards of 2010. These awards are for books published in 2009. From this list below one book in each category will be selected by the committee(s) and announced in July on our website. In 2009 more than 70 books-fiction, non-fiction, books of essays, memoirs, and poetry by RPCVs were sent to us for review. We think it is about 90% of all books published by RPCVs last year. If you have a favorite book, let me know why, and I’ll pass on your recommendation to the committees. Thank you. John p.s. If you think a book has been inadvertently left off this list, also please let me know. • for the Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution By Jack Godwin (Gabon 1982-84) AMACOM Press 304 pages March 2009 The . . .

The intense cross cultural experience of the Peace Corps has produced in many PCVs a deep well of sentiment that has found its way, perhaps too easily, into poetry. Fortunately, this intense experience has also been a rich source of material for many fine published poets including Charlie Smith (Micronesia 1968-70); Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1991-93); Philip Dacey (Nigeria 1964-66); Sandra Meek (Botswana 1989-91); Ann Neelon (Senegal 1978-79); Paul Violi (Nigeria 1966); Keith Carthwright (Senegal 1983-85); Susan Rich (Niger 1984-86); Lisa Chavez (Poland 1993-95); John Flynn (Moldova 1993-95); Margaret Szumowski (Zaire 1973-74, Ethiopia 1974-75); Virginia Gilbert (Korea 1971-73); Tony Zurlo (Nigeria 1962-64), and many others. Poets, I believe, have been best able to explain the values of the Peace Corps experience as it relates to writing. Margaret Szumowski, who served in Zaire and Ethiopia, puts it this way: I think the poet gains a great deal. She absorbs the sounds of . . .

Executive and world traveler Carol Scott (Ethiopia 1966-68) spent many years working and living in Southeast Asia. Her corporate experience in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Burma, Indonesia, and Vietnam, as well as visits to China, have brought her into contact with the Chinese diaspora in the business community. Here Carol reviews Peter Hessler’s newest — Country Driving. • Country Driving A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler (China Harpers 448 pages $27.99 February 2010 448pp $27.99 Reviewed by Carol Scott (Ethiopia 1966–68) COUNTRY DRIVING IS A VIEW OF CHINA through the windshields of a couple of cars rented from a couple of wacky car rental agencies, driven on new roads that have accelerated the movement of workers from country farms to the new economic zones. Auto accoutrements, like hitchhikers, the hilarious Chinese driving test, road building, statues of policemen along the highways, flat tires and speeding tickets tie together . . .

Reviewer Cynthia Morrison Phoel’s first book of fiction, Cold Snap: Bulgaria Stories, will be published in June 2010 by Sourthern Methodist University Press. She holds degrees from Cornell University and the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. Her short stories have appeared The Missouri Review, The Gettysburg Review, and Harvard Review. She lives near Boston with her husband and three children. Cynthia has reviewed Doug Eadie’s The Blind Visionary for Peace Corps Worldwide. • The Blind Visionary by Doug Eadie (Ethiopia (1965–67) and Virginia Jacko Governance Edge January 2010 162 pages $19.95 Reviewed by Cynthia Morrision Phoel (Bulgaria 1994–96) ABOUT SIX MONTHS after I returned from the Peace Corps, I was diagnosed with retinal detachment. I was 25 at the time and an unlikely candidate for a condition that more commonly occurs in older people. Retinal detachment is a serious problem and can result in permanent vision loss. I had . . .

The Atlantic has their fiction 2010 issue published. As always, it is a great collection of stories and essays, including one by Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65), on “Fiction in the Age of E-books”…..The Atlantic says that analysts estimate Americans will buy on the order of 6 million e-readers this years–and by 2014, an estimated 32 million people will own one. What does this mean to writers, storytelling, etc., they asked Theroux in a short q & a. that appears in the current issue. In part of his replies about e-books, Paul replied, “Movable type seemed magical to the monks who were illuminating manuscripts and copying texts. Certainly e-books seem magical to me.” Paul, however, admits that he still writes his first drafts in longhand. Finally, the interviewer asks: What’s your advice for a young person who wants to grow up to become a fiction writer? PT: Notice how many of . . .

When I interviewed Moritz Thomsen back in July 1990, I asked him when someone like himself, who had lived for so long in another culture, writes about that society, are they writing from any sort of advantage: the advantage of an insider, for example, or are they limited by always being a foreigner in a strange land. Moritz answered in part, “The only thing I know about foreign culture is how I feel about it: that’s what I’ve always tried to write about. Cornell wrote about the overpowering importance of our emotions to ourselves. The trick for a writer, and he is probably like most writers writing about his emotions, is to make these emotions important to others. What a risky and awful business to write, finding yourself interesting when you’re not.” We also published in RPCV Writers & Readers, back in May 1995, an exchange of letters between Moritz . . .

Powering the Future: A Scientist’s Guide to Energy Independence by Daniel B. Botkin (Philippines 1962–63) Pearson FT Press $25.99 280 pages April 2010 • Faith, Interrupted: A Spiritual Journey by  Eric Lax (Micronesia 1966-68) Alfred A. Knopf $26.00 288 pages April 2010 • South of the Frontera: A Peace Corps Memoir by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras, 1975-77) iUniverse $22.95 313 pages March 2010 • Green Pearl Odyssey by Reilly Ridgell (Micronesia 1971-73) Blue Ocean Press $16.95 468 pages February 2010 • Last Train From Cuernavaca by Lucia St. Clair Robson (Venezuela 1964–66) Forge $25.99 349 pages April 2010 Click on the book cover or the bold book title to order from Amazon and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance.

Darcy Munson Meijer has lived and taught in France, Vietnam, the U.S. and Gabon.  She currently teaches women at Zayed University in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi. Darcy also edits the quarterly Friends of Gabon newsletter, the Gabon Letter. Here she reviews the young adult novel Stronghold by Terri McIntyre. • Stronghold by Terri McIntyre (Pakistan 1963–65) CreateSpace October 2009 259 pages $12.50 Reviewed by Darcy Munson Meijer (Gabon 1982–84) Stronghold is a valuable addition to the book collection of any young adult — and to mine. Author Terri McIntyre provides a model of talented writing and plot development and gives readers food for thought, plus marvelous local color. The story is set in Indiana and the beautiful high-desert lands of Arizona. Stronghold’s hero is 13-year-old Joe Aberdeen, who must relocate to his father’s house as a result of a family tragedy. As Joe . . .

The New Yorker for April 19, 2010, has a piece by Peter Hessler (China 1996-98) on his return home from China. Peter and his wife Leslie Chang decided to settle in a rural Colorado, both of them strangers to America. Peter writes, “Neither of us had much experience as adults in the United States. I had left after college to attend graduate school in England, [he was a Rhodes Scholar] and then I travelled to China; before I knew it I had been gone for a decade and a half … Leslie had even fewer American roots; she had been born and  brought up in New York, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, and she had made her career as a writer in Shanghai and Beijing.” They met in Beijing where Leslie was a reporter for the NYTIMES and Peter, after his Peace Corps tour, found work. It is a lovely piece and one . . .

Journalist, foreign correspondent, and former Peace Corps Evaluator, Stanley Meisler, has written the first complete history of the Peace Corps, tracing its evolution through the past nine presidential terms. The book, When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years will be published early in 2011. Relying on a variety of historical sources, including new material in national archives, presidential libraries and anecdotal personal narratives, Meisler, who was at the Peace Corps from 1964-67, has written a dispassionate summary of how the agency changed, tilted with the times, and survived attacks from both the right and the left, but especially the right. Meisler’s last book was on  Kofi Annan and entitled, A Man of Peace in A World of War. It was published by John Wiley & Sons in 2007. His Peace Corps book is coming out from Beacon Press.  This is a major development in the story of the Peace . . .