Barry Kitterman was this month’s featured speaker in our Far Away Places series. He talked about his experiences in 1970s Belize as well as about his novel and creative writing on Thursday, November 19 at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Bowling Green, KY. A book signing followed.
His first novel, The Baker’s Boy, was published by Southern Methodist University Press in 2008 and in 2009 won the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. He drew inspiration from his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize in the 1970s.
Set in Central American and Middle Tennessee it tells the story of a former Peace Corps worker at a boys’ training school in Belize near the Guatemalan border who thirty years later is toiling as a baker while still haunted by his earlier experience. Kitterman spent almost a decade writing the novel which has drawn praise from critics everywhere.
Kitterman coordinates the creative writing program and visiting writers series at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN where he’s been a member of the faculty since 1994.
Kitterman worked as a Peace Corps volunteer and teacher in Belize in Central America. He currently teaches at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee
I’ve read his book and loved it! I’ve been in Belize for the last five years during which time I’ve seen amazing change and progress. It’s always an eye-opener to read stories like “The Baker’s Boy” to put everything into perspective. I kind of laugh when the Peace Corp volunteers who are here now complain! (yes, the Peace Corp is STILL here!)