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Peter Hessler grew up in [[Columbia, Missouri]] and graduated from [[Hickman High School]] in [[1988]]. His father was a [[sociology]] professor at the [[University of Missouri]], and his mother teaches history at [[Columbia College of Missouri|Columbia College]], Missouri.<ref name="RiverTown">{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Peter| title=River Town: two years on the Yangtze |year=2001 |publisher=Harper Collins |chapter=About the author }}</ref> He became interested in literature and writing while in high school. He went on to study English and creative writing at [[Princeton University]], where, during his junior year, he took [[John McPhee]]'s renowned writing seminar. Hessler graduated in 1992 and won a [[Rhodes Scholarship]] to study English language and literature at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref>As stated by Hessler in "Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present", John Murray Publishers, London, 2006.</ref>
Peter Hessler grew up in [[Columbia, Missouri]] and graduated from [[Hickman High School]] in [[1988]]. His father was a [[sociology]] professor at the [[University of Missouri]], and his mother teaches history at [[Columbia College of Missouri|Columbia College]], Missouri.<ref name="RiverTown">{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Peter| title=River Town: two years on the Yangtze |year=2001 |publisher=Harper Collins |chapter=About the author }}</ref> He became interested in literature and writing while in high school. He went on to study English and creative writing at [[Princeton University]], where, during his junior year, he took [[John McPhee]]'s renowned writing seminar. Hessler graduated in 1992 and won a [[Rhodes Scholarship]] to study English language and literature at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref>As stated by Hessler in "Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present", John Murray Publishers, London, 2006.</ref>


The summer before graduating from Princeton, Hessler worked as a researcher for the [[Kellogg Foundation]] in southeastern Missouri. He wrote an extensive ethnography about a small town called [[Sikeston]]. It was published in the [[Journal for Applied Anthropology]].<ref name="NationalBook">[ http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2006_nf_hessler.html 2006 National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction]</ref>
The summer before graduating from Princeton, Hessler worked as a researcher for the [[Kellogg Foundation]] in southeastern Missouri. He wrote an extensive ethnography about a small town called [[Sikeston]]. It was published in the ''Journal for Applied Anthropology''.<ref name="NationalBook">[ http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2006_nf_hessler.html 2006 National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction]</ref>


==Career==
==Career==

Revision as of 21:23, 7 December 2010

Peter Hessler (b. June 14, 1969) is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of three books about China, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001), Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present (2006), and Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory (2010).

Early life

Peter Hessler grew up in Columbia, Missouri and graduated from Hickman High School in 1988. His father was a sociology professor at the University of Missouri, and his mother teaches history at Columbia College, Missouri.[1] He became interested in literature and writing while in high school. He went on to study English and creative writing at Princeton University, where, during his junior year, he took John McPhee's renowned writing seminar. Hessler graduated in 1992 and won a Rhodes Scholarship to study English language and literature at the University of Oxford.[2]

The summer before graduating from Princeton, Hessler worked as a researcher for the Kellogg Foundation in southeastern Missouri. He wrote an extensive ethnography about a small town called Sikeston. It was published in the Journal for Applied Anthropology.[3]

Career

Hessler joined the Peace Corps in 1996 and was sent to China for two years to teach English at a teachers college in Fuling, a small city near the Yangtze River in Chongqing.[1] He later worked in China as freelance writer for numerous publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the South China Morning Post, and National Geographic. [4] Hessler joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2000 and served as foreign correspondent for the same publication until 2007.[5]

He is best known for his two books on China: River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (2001), a Kiriyama Prize-winning book about his experiences in two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in China, and Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present (2006), a collection of journalistic stories he wrote while living in Beijing. While his stories are ostensibly about ordinary people's lives in China and are not motivated by politics,[6] they nevertheless touch upon political issues or the lives of people who encountered problems during the Cultural Revolution, the central example being that of the story of the archaeologist Chen Mengjia and his wife, poet and translator Zhao Luorui (aka Lucy Chao). He released his newest book about China in 2010 called Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory (2010).

Personal

Hessler now lives in Colorado with his wife, journalist and writer Leslie T. Chang since 2007.[7] Peter Hessler's Chinese name is 何伟 (Hé Wěi).

Bibliography

Books

Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present

Released in 2006, the book records a series of parallel episodes in Hessler's time in China, when he worked there as both a teacher and journalist. The characters featured are his former students, now spread about the country, often now Englsih teachers, as well as an Uighur disssident who finally fled to the USA. However, the oracle bones of tebook's title refers to a story he unearths regarding the archaeologist Chen Mengjia who comitted suicide during the Cultural Revolution.

Country Driving: A Journey from Farm to Factory

Released 9 February 2010, Country Driving: A Journey from Farm to Factory records Peter Hessler's journey from northern Chinese counties, down to the factory towns of southern China. Hessler looks at the significant economic and industrial growth and development current in China.

Articles

  • Hessler, Peter. "Tibet Through Chinese Eyes". The Atlantic. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

References

  1. ^ a b Hessler, Peter (2001). "About the author". River Town: two years on the Yangtze. Harper Collins.
  2. ^ As stated by Hessler in "Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present", John Murray Publishers, London, 2006.
  3. ^ [ http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2006_nf_hessler.html 2006 National Book Award Finalist, Nonfiction]
  4. ^ [http://www.rolfpotts.com/writers/hessler.html Peter Hessler, Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding Update
  5. ^ [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/peter_hessler/search?contributorName=peter%20hessler Peter Hessler, The New Yorker
  6. ^ As stated by Hessler in "Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present", John Murray Publishers, London, 2006.
  7. ^ http://www.timeout.com.hk/books/features/18225/interview-leslie-t-chang.html


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