Ben East Books

Tag: Writing

  • Writing Prompts, Spellcheck, and Academic Advice

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    Ben East
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    There are many, many reasons not to read Flash Fiction Funny while riding public transportation. The first and perhaps best reason is Taylor Mali’s The the Impotence of Proofreading, which will leave you bent over double and wheezing for breath, the workaday passengers all around contemplating the emergency brake at the back of the train.…

  • Oh My God, Look at Her Butt

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    Ben East
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    Will Sing win a Golden Globe or other award this season? I hope so. The soundtrack brought out memories of David Bowie (Under Pressure), Leonard Cohen (Hallelujah), and George Michael. That, and its an inspiring story about overcoming obstacles to realize artistic passions. So even if on the surface the only thing your kids get…

  • B.A. East

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    Novelist Foreign Service Officer Returned Peace Corps Volunteer B.A. East taught English Lit and Composition in Malawi as a Peace Corps Volunteer, at Brooklyn College Academy in New York, and at the American School of Asuncion in Paraguay. Later he joined the State Department’s Foreign Service, taking assignments in Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Ghana, Mexico, and…

  • Short Stories from the School for Damaged Children

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    Ben East
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    Deep oppression pervades Brian Booker’s collection of seven stories Are You Here for What I’m Here For? (Bellevue Literary Press, 2016). The mood is confining, suffocating, maddening, the writing evocative of a heart pulsing beneath the floorboards of a cabin far from anywhere. Booker awakens—allays—awakens—allays—and awakens again profound tensions: Something is wrong. Everything is ok. But something is…

  • Oscar Keye Is Dead, Long Live Oscar Keye!

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    Ben East
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    Oscar Keye is dead and I am free: I just delivered my latest manuscript to the publisher. Freedom… Fiction always begins as escape, a jailbreak, a mad dash for wild, unknown quarters. Fiction itself is freedom, turning the mundane into the extraordinary! The bones of my being are loose-jointed things hooked by springs and oiled…

  • Workshop: Stories of Peace

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    Ben East
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    While the Pols and Poobahs dress in UNGA-wear and head for New York, the Peace Corps Community runs amok in the Nation’s Capitol. Join Peace Corps Writers tomorrow at a workshop for writers in the DC area. The event, part of the annual Peace Corps Connect gathering (celebrating 55 years this year), will take place at the George Washington…

  • 20 Years On: Peace Corps & Writing

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    Ben East
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    Today’s the day 20 years ago that two score optimistic & good-willed Americans gathered at the 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to begin the most excellent adventure I know, a blend of humanitarian endeavor, mutual group support, and self-reliance in the face of a great unknown. We were to spend the next 27 months as Peace Corps Volunteers in…

  • Peace Corps Writer Awards for 2016

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    Ben East
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    A few notable works recognized with various Peace Corps Writer Awards for 2016. Next week the Peace Corps community will gather in Washington, DC for Peace Corps Connect to celebrate the agency’s 55 years. Activities will include panels and workshops featuring Peace Corps Writers. More. The Maria Thomas Fiction Award for 2016 (named after novelist Maria…

  • The Ding Dong Reader

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    Ben East
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    Ever since we moved in three years ago, visitors to our home have announced their arrival with a sick-sounding doorbell. Ding–Dunk, it sadly played. My reaction mirrored this dreary tune. Oh dear, who’s come to see us now? When the button finally gave way—a crack became a hole became an entirely broken piece of plastic more likely to…

  • Bart Simpson, Foreign Service Officer

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    Ben East
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    I was driving the boys to a wishing well Sunday morning when good fortune came my way: NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me was airing Not My Job. Talented people were supposed to do something without drawing on their talent. The talent in this case was Bill Oakley, who turned a Foreign Service exam cop…