I am so excited. I just discovered a new book all about third culture kids. I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I have a love for books anyway, but if the books are on subjects that I am interested about then the love is even greater. On Amazon I discovered that this book has 498 pages, so there's lots of "food for thought" there. The book has only just been published: 1st of December 2011, by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
The new book "Writing Out of Limbo: the International Childhood Experience of Global Nomads and Third Culture kids" by Gene H. Bell-Villada and Nina Sichel with Faith Eidse and Elaine Neil Orr. For a sample of the book, including the table of contents click here.
Here's what I read about the book that made my heart beat faster:
In this groundbreaking collection, writers from around the world address issues of language acquisition and identity formation, childhood mobility and adaptation, memory and grief, and the artist’s struggle to articulate the experience of growing up global. And, woven like a thread through the entire collection, runs the individual’s search for belonging and a place called “home.”
About the authors: Gene H. Bell-Villada, born in Haiti of US parents, was raised in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela. A professor of Romance Languages at Williams College (Massachusetts), he is the author or editor of ten books, including a TCK memoir, Overseas American: Growing Up Gringo in the Tropics (2005). Nina Sichel is co-editor, with Faith Eidse, of Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global (2004), the first collection of memoirs by Third Culture Kids and Global Nomads. Raised among expats in Venezuela, she relocated many times as an adult, and currently leads memoir and guided writing workshops near Washington, DC. Last but not least editor Elaine Neil Orr whom I heard came up with the title of the book! (Sorry Elaine I forgot you the first time round).
This is what others say about the book:
“Well-grounded in classical perspectives and new visions of what it means to live in an intercultural world, the book offers a wonderful array of memoir, research, interviews, theory and even poetry. There’s something for everyone here!” Anne P. Copeland, PhD, Director, The Interchange Institute
“I recommend this book to all parents who are creating TCKs; to teachers and professors of TCKs; for general reading and understanding of the making of a citizen of the world; and, finally, to TCKs themselves, who will see that their experiences are shared with many others.” Linda A. Garvelink, President, Foreign Service Youth Foundation
As I read about the book I think this is a "must have" for anybody doing research on third culture kids or cross cultural kids. I am glad that there is an increasing amount of books and information available for parents, teachers, therapists, adult third culture kids and anyone interested in this subject. Thanks for publishing this book!
If anyone is interested there is an interview available (free) by Jo Parfitt with Nina Sichel co-editor of the anthology Unrooted Childhoods, about her second anthology, called Writing Out of Limbo on the Writers abroad radio show.
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Thank you for your attention. However, you forgot to mention our other editor, Elaine Neil Orr! She worked on the project, too, and in fact thought of our book title.
ReplyDeleteSo please add her name!
Thank you Gene Bell-Villada. It´s my honour that one of the authors of this book has added a comment on my blog. So sorry that I left out Elaine Neil Orr her name, one of the editors. I hope you accept my apologies. I have corrected the post. I am looking forward to reading your book.
ReplyDeleteI am the author of one of the chapters in this book, and I am always interested to hear from other people who look at third culture kids through the lens of identity development. I wanted to give you a link to my dissertation (Homesick for Abroad), published in 2006, which describes identity development in third culture kids in case anyone else is researching this topic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great website you have provided!
Liliana Meneses
http://books.google.com/books?id=ne5mNwAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s
I'm so glad the paperback is now available, so I am reading the book at this moment. Thank you Liliana for leaving a comment here and for your compliment. Thanks for adding the link to your dissertation. I am so glad that there are people researching these kind of topics. I just checked the chapter you have written in "Writing Out of Limbo". I like what you say about the question - Who am I? - and that it can be answered with an autobiographical story of one's life. You say that in the retelling of one's story, life experiences are described, and in being described meanings are created for those experiences.
ReplyDeleteI have found that even writing on this blog helps me to feel less fragmented, I feel better by doing so. Elaine Neil Orr says the same in her book "Gods of Noonday".
Are you doing any interesting TCK research at the moment?