Peace Corps Worldwide – Page 418 – promoting Peace Corps writers since 1989

RPCVs — Keep Writing Poetry!

Oct 02 2009

In the October 22, 2009 issue of The New York Review of Book there is an interesting foreword written by Charles Simic, our recent Poet Laureate, to his review of Nicholson Baker’s new novel, The Anthologist. Simic makes a few comments about poetry in America that all of us should take note of. [Yes, I know I ended the sentence with a preposition.] While a recent National Endowment for the Arts study says that reading poetry continues to decline, especially among women, Simic sees poetry, and reading poetry, alive and well in America. He mentioned that today there are at least 27,000 blogs on the Web devoted to poetry (I’m not sure we were counted among the many) and “countless on-line poetry magazines.” Simic also mentioned that he was one of twenty poets who were part of last summer’s Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. This festival drew 19,000 to a . . .

Looking For An Agent? The “B” List

Oct 02 2009

Balkin, Richard THE BALKIN AGENCY, PO Box 222 Amherst, MA 01004 Reference, Anthology, Politics (413)548-9835 rick62838@crocker.com Balzer, Paula 126 Fifth Ave., Suite 300 New York, NY 10011 Parenting, General Fiction (212) 989-5757 slazin@lazinbooks.com Bankoff, Lisa INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT 40 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 History/Politics/Current Affairs, Sports, General Fiction, Memoir lbankoff@icmtalent.com Barber, Virginia WILLIAM MORRIS 1325 Ave of the Americas, 11th Fl. New York, NY 10019 General Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Memoir, Sports, History, Politics/Current Affairs, Children’s http://www.wma.com Barbor, Dave CURTIS BROWN LTD. 10 Astor Place New York, NY 10003 General Fiction, Reference, Parenting, Children’s, History, Politics/Current Affairs, Sci-Fi/Fantasy DB@CBltd.com Home Barer, Julie BARER LITERACY 270 Lafayette St, Suite1504 New York, NY 10012 General Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Mystery, True Crime, Memoir www.barerliteracy.com Barrett, Loretta BOOKS, INC. 101 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10003 Religion/Spirituality, Pop Culture, History, Politics, Current Affairs (212)242-3420 mail@lorettabarrettbooks.com Barron, Manie WILLIAM MORRIS 1325 Ave. of . . .

October RPCV New Books

Oct 01 2009

Buffaloes by My Bedroom: Tales of Tanganyika By Dennis Herlocker (Tanzania 1964-66) iUniverse, $18.95 206 pages September 2009 Maracaibo By Jim Ciullo (Venezuela 1969-71) Mainly Murder Press, $!5.95 304 pages October 2009 In an Uncharted Country By Clifford Garstang (Korea 1976-78) Press 53, $14.00 186 pages September 2009 Tanga By Eric Madeen (Gabon iUniverse 288 pages April 2009 What The Abenaki Say About Dogs …and other poems and stories of Lake Champlain By Dan Close (Ethiopia 1966-68) The Tamarac Press, $10 53 pages 2009 Footsteps (Novel) Kirsten Johnson (Kenya 1982-84) Plain View Press, $18.95 243 pages 2009 Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution By Jack Godwin (Gabon 1982-84) AMACOM Press, $27.95 304 pages March 2009 Images of America; Platte County By Starley Talbott (South Africa 2001) Arcadia Publishing, $21.99 128 pages 2009 The Last of His Mind: A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s by John Thorndike . . .

Review: ROCK WORN BY WATER by Florence Chard Dacey

Sep 30 2009

Ecuador RPCV Marnie Mueller is the author of Green Fires, which won the 1995 Maria Thomas Fiction Award and an American Book Award. Her other novels are The Climate of the Country and My Mother’s Island. The latter has been optioned for a feature film, the screenplay of which, she has signed on to write. She has recently completed a new novel, Don’t Think Twice. Here she reviews: Rock Worn By Water by Florence Chard Dacey (Nigeria 1963–65) Austin: Plain View Press March 2009 77 pages $14.20 Reviewed by Marnie Mueller (Ecuador 1963–65) Florence Chard Dacey had endeared herself to me before I even opened her book for review. Take note, fellow writers! Her accompanying letter was exemplary in its restraint, simply stating the facts of publication (date, price, and ISBN) and that she as a former volunteer would like her collection to be listed and considered for review . . .

RPCV writer and historian Merrill Peterson Dies

Sep 30 2009

Merrill D. Peterson (Armenia 1997-99) Professor of History (Emeritus) at the University of Virginia and the editor of the prestigious Library of America edition of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and who wrote several books on Jefferson, including the acclaimed 1970s biography Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation died on September 23, 2009. He was 88. In his lifetime he wrote 37 books, including one based on his Peace Corps tour, Starving Armenians: America and the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1930 and After.” Peterson joined the Peace Corps at the age of 76. In addition to his contributions to the University through teaching and chairing the history department, Peterson also served as the College’s dean of faculty for four years. In an article in the University’s Cavalier Daily, History Prof. Charles McCurdy said Peterson was an “intellectual historian,” but also praised his humility.”[He was] the greatest historian on the Virginia faculty in . . .

Review: Memoir of Colombia RPCV Paul Arfin

Sep 28 2009

Portrait of a Peace Corps Gringo by Paul Arfin, self-published with BookSurge in August, is reviewed here by Honduras RPCV Barbara E. Joe, author of Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras, selected as Best Peace Corps Memoir of 2008 by Peace Corps Writers and Best New Non-Fiction Finalist, National Indie Excellence Awards. Barbara works as a Spanish interpreter, translator, and freelance writer in Washington, DC. • Portrait of a Peace Corps Gringo by Paul Arfin (Colombia 1963–65) BookSurge August 2009 378 pages $17.99 Reviewed by Barbara Joe (Honduras 2000–03) In Portrait of a Peace Corps Gringo by Paul Arfin, I looked forward to becoming reacquainted with Colombia, where I’d spent two teenage years. This book, however, turned out to be more autobiography than Peace Corps memoir. Peace Corps service is often valuable in shaping young people’s future. For Arfin, this pattern held true. While the author . . .

Review: RPCV David A. Taylor's book on the WPA Writers' Project

Sep 28 2009

John Woods is president of CWL Publishing Enterprises. He has worked in book publishing since 1970 and recently worked on Making the Good Life Last: 4 Keys to Sustainable Living by Michael A. Schuler (Berrett-Koehler). He was a Volunteer in Ethiopia from 1965 to 1968. His son Christopher Woods was a PCV in Kazakhstan from 1996 to 1998. Here John reviews Soul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America by David A. Taylor. • Soul of a People: The WPA Writers’ Project Uncovers Depression America by David A. Taylor (Mauritania 1983–85) Wiley February 2009 272 pages $27.95 Reviewed by John Woods (Ethiopia 1965–68) Imagine in this current economic travail if one of President Obama’s initiatives was to fund a project where out-of-work writers were employed to create travel and cultural guides to every state and several major cities in the United States. I’m pretty sure the right . . .

Glimpse Magazine Is Looking For A Few Good RPCV Travel Writers

Sep 23 2009

Glimpse is seeking applicants for its Spring 2010 Correspondents Program. Supported in part by National Geographic Society, The Correspondents Program is for especially talented young adults (aged 18–34) specializing in writing or photography. Correspondents receive a $600 stipend, a professional editor, career training in writing and photography, guaranteed publication on Glimpse.org, and potential publication in National Geographic platforms. The application deadline is November 1. For more information, visit: http://glimpse.org/correspondents.

Review: Images of America — Platte County

Sep 23 2009

Images of America — Platte County is reviewed by Lawrence F. Lihosit, whose latest book, Whispering Campaign, includes short stories from Mexico and Central America. Published by iUniverse, it will be available at Amazon.com by November 1st. • Images of America: Platte County by Starley Talbott (South Africa 2001) Arcadia Publishing August 2009 128 pages $21.99 Reviewed by Lawrence F. Lihosit (Honduras, 1975–77) Images in America: Platte County is a history book. It could be described as a photo essay but it is more than that. This is about the people, places and activities from the 1800s until 1965 that defined Platte County, Wyoming. The history of its changing cultural geography begins with homesteaders riding a trail parallel to the North Platte River in the later portion of the 19th century and ends with abandoned Atlas missile silos south of Chugwater in the 1960s. The black and white photographs are . . .

Writing Fellowships At Black Mountain Institute Of UNLV

Sep 23 2009

Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will offer from two to five nine-month fellowships for the academic year 2010-11 to published writers and public intellectuals. Fellowships will be awarded to candidates whose work ranges away from the American experience and into international terrain, and who have an ongoing project that would benefit from a period of sustained immersion. Fellows receive $50,000, a computer-equipped office, and access to UNLV’s Lied Library. They are required to participate in a public forum and take part in Black Mountain Institute’s programs. RPCV Richard Wiley (Korea 1967-69) is the Associate Director. Wiley is author of the novels Soldiers In Hiding (winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for best American fiction and reissued in 2007 by Hawthorne Books), Fools’ Gold, Festival for Three Thousand Maidens, Indigo, and Ahmed’s Revenge. His most recent novel, Commodore Perry’s Minstrel Show, was published by the new Michener . . .

RPCV Nathan Fitch's photo show

Sep 23 2009

RPCV Photographer Nathan Fitch (Micronesia 2004–06) works as the studio manager for a National Geographic photographer, and is also a photographer with a brilliant new show — “Double Vision” — that is currently at AS220’s Main Gallery, 115 Empire St. in Providence, Rhode Island. Nathan writes, “The “Double Vision” show came out of my interest in working with people with disabilities and in the arts.” A while back Nathan was looking for an organization with which to do some volunteering when he found Top Drawer Art Center, a nonprofit visual art center providing art programs for adults with developmental disabilities. By chance they had a part time job they needed to be filled. During the nine months he spent at Top Drawer he took photographs of the adults as they worked, and he started thinking that a show might evolve from the photos. “Rather than only having my outside perspective . . .

Caddying For Arnold Palmer Before He Was A King

Sep 22 2009

Neil Sagebiel, the editor of the wonderful blog Armchair Golfer just published this short piece I wrote for him on Arnold Palmer. Here it is, story about the King. The iconic Palmer brought golf to the masses (and breakfast table). By John Coyne Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF GOLF MAGAZINES THIS PAST month were filled with remembrances of Arnold Palmer on the occasion of his 80th birthday. I read Boo Weekley’s account in the September 14, 2009 issue of Golf World about how Arnie said he always signed an autograph so people could read it. It reminded me of seeing Palmer at the PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club back in the ’70s. Arnold was coming into the press room for an interview and was stopped by a 10-year-old for an autograph, and I watched as he carefully wrote out his full name for the young boy. However, the best story . . .

E-Chapbook By Ghana RPCV Edward Mycue

Sep 22 2009

Wordrunner Electronic Chapbooks announced the publication of I AM A FACT, NOT A FICTION, an e-chapbook by Edward Mycue (Ghana 1961). Read and enjoy his wildly imaginative poetry at www.echapbook.com/poems/mycue. Wordrunner had a booth at the 10th annual Sonoma County Book Festival on Saturday, September 19 in Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa ( www.socobookfest.org). Ed Mycue was there with copies of Mindwalking 1937-2007 (Philos Press, 2008) to autograph.

Peace Corps Signed Into Law 9/22/1961

Sep 22 2009

This morning on NPR Garrison Keillor, as a part of his writer’s almanac series, honored Peace Corps and read part of Kennedy’s speech in Ann Arbor, MI. Click the link here for the text or option to download the audio. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/ Kennedy first spoke about the idea of a Peace Corps in his final weeks of campaigning for the presidency. At 2 a.m. on October 14, 1960, after a long day of campaigning, the young senator stood on the steps in front of the student union at the University of Michigan. The journalists had gone home, thinking that nothing more would happen that day, but 10,000 students remained, hoping to see and hear Kennedy. He gave a short speech, in which he said: “I think in many ways it is the most important campaign since 1933, mostly because of the problems which press upon the United States, and the opportunities . . .

Looking For An Agent? The “A” List

Sep 22 2009

Over the next month or so, I’m going to post a list of literary agents who you might contact with your book proposals, finished manuscripts, etc. Agents get a lot of proposals, often as many as 100 emails or letters a week. It is important–for you!–to present yourself in a serious way, without overwhelming them. They will simply disregard your email or letter. Study the agency before you email them. Make sure they are representing a type of book you have written. I have added to each address the agents’ areas of interest. Good luck. (p.s. The “B” list is forthcoming.) Abel, Carole CAROLE ABEL LITERARY AGENCY 160 West 87th St. New York, NY 10024 Parenting, Health (212) 724-1168 caroleabel@aol.com Abou, Stephanie JOY HARRIS LITERARY AGENCY, INC. 156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 617 New York, NY 10010 General Fiction (212)924-6269 stephanie@globallit.com www.globallit.com Adams, Tracey Adam’s Literacy 7845 Colony Road, C4 #215 Charlotte, NC . . .