Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka will receive writer's award



Chile RPCV Tom Hazuka will receive writer's award

Novelist, prof receives artists’ grant
By DANIEL REMIN, Staff Writer
01/27/2005
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BERLIN -- On Thursday, Tom Hazuka will receive his first award in Connecticut.

Hazuka, a fiction writer and Berlin resident, will receive a $2,500 grant at the Commission on Culture and Tourism’s ceremony, which is taking place at the commission’s gallery in Hartford. Overall, 27 people from Connecticut, including poets, fiction writers, music composers, choreographers, playwrights and filmmakers will receive $2,500 or $5,000.

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"The Commission on Culture and Tourism is firmly committed to furthering the professional development of individual artists," Jennifer Aniskovich, the commission’s executive director, said in a statement. "Artists are at the core of the rich cultural heritage of Connecticut and make tremendous contributions to the vitality of their communities. We believe that supporting artists in thecreation of exciting new work will ultimately benefit all of us."

The recipients, known as fellows, were selected by panels of professionals who work in the same fields. The 27 fellows were chosen from a group of 131 applicants.

The Artist Fellowship program gives grants annually in different art disciplines. The program is funded by the state as well as the federal National Endowment for the Arts.

"I’m pretty happy about it," said Hazuka. "They said, ‘you are worthy.’"

Hazuka, who’s also an English professor -- teaching fiction writing and literature -- at Central Connecticut State University, has written two books. One is called "The Road to the Island" and the other is titled "In the City of the Disappeared." He’s also published 30 short stories in various magazines and is now trying to get two different collections of his short stories published as books.

"The Road to the Island," published in 1998, is set in Connecticut. It’s about a marathoner who gets killed and that person’s son has to find out who killed his father.

"In the City of the Disappeared" came out in 2000 and is set in Chile during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The protagonist is a 22-year-old American in the Peace Corps.

In 1978, Hazuka went to Chile as a member of the Peace Corps, which he did to "do something different," he said. He spent two years there.

Hazuka also went to Chile the past two Christmases.

"It was nice," he said. "Warm. I did a lot of research. I went to places that I was at in the old days (while in the Peace Corps)."

Currently, Hazuka is working on a memoir about Chile and also, a book about the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four with CCSU Athletic Director C.J. Jones.

"Writing chooses you," Hazuka said. "I think every writer who writes feels that if they don’t do it, they kind of feel guilty and miserable. The best part is getting it done and saying, ‘I did that.’"

Hazuka started writing songs, poems and some fiction while in the Peace Corps. He had previously written poetry while in college.

"Somehow, I just got the idea that I want to do this," said Hazuka, who also plays guitar.

After the Peace Corps, he went to the University of California-Davis and got his master’s degree in fiction writing. He received his Ph.D from the University of Utah and won awards for his work while there.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that, with this most recent achievement and the money Hazuka will get from it, he plans to finance another trip to South America to conduct more research for his memoir. Besides spending time in Chile, he’d like to get to Brazil.

Daniel Remin can be reached at dremin@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 231.


©The Herald 2005

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

January 22, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Spread Freedom — but not at gunpoint 22 Jan Dodd has ring side seat at Inauguration 21 Jan Peace Corps works in Georgia 21 Jan Trey Aven monitored Ukraine elections 21 Jan RPCV group makes quiet indie-pop 21 Jan Anthony Shriver considers race for Florida Governor 20 Jan Thomas Tighe says internet brought funds to DRI 20 Jan Stacy Jupiter researches Australia ecosystems 20 Jan Libby Garvey is education activist 20 Jan David McIntyre captures medals on land and in water 19 Jan Carol Bellamy new president of World Learning 18 Jan Reed Hastings crossed "Latino Caucus'' 18 Jan RPCVs sponsor Freeze for Food to aid Colombia farmers 18 Jan RPCVs urge Bush to aid Democracy in Ukraine 17 Jan Tom Petri proposes changes in student loan program 17 Jan Golden Globe Win for Jamie Foxx in RPCV's "Ray" 17 Jan Stephen Smith is new consul-general in Australia 17 Jan

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Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Coleman: Peace Corps mission and expansion Senator Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, says in an op-ed, A chance to show the world America at its best: "Even as that worthy agency mobilizes a "Crisis Corps" of former Peace Corps volunteers to assist with tsunami relief, I believe an opportunity exists to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the Peace Corps and its expansion to touch more and more lives."

RPCVs active in new session of Congress In the new session of Congress that begins this week, RPCV Congressman Tom Petri has a proposal to bolster Social Security, Sam Farr supported the objection to the Electoral College count, James Walsh has asked for a waiver to continue heading a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, Chris Shays will no longer be vice chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Honda spoke on the floor honoring late Congressman Robert Matsui.

Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help?

The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005.

Changing of the Guard With Lloyd Pierson's departure, Marie Wheat has been named acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations responsible for the day-to-day management of the Peace Corps. Although Wheat is not an RPCV and has limited overseas experience, in her two years at the agency she has come to be respected as someone with good political skills who listens and delegates authority and we wish her the best in her new position.

Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

RPCV safe after Terrorist Attack RPCV Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the U.S. consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia survived Monday's attack on the consulate without injury. Five consular employees and four others were killed. Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman to hold the position, has been an outspoken advocate of rights for Arab women and has met with Saudi reformers despite efforts by Saudi leaders to block the discussions.

Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors.

The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By Christy Coleman (district.hazelpark.k12.mi.us - 216.11.71.2) on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - 12:00 pm: Edit Post

Hi my name is Christy Coleman and over the past few days I have been very interested in Chile. Me and my group are doing a project on Chile and we would like to know a little bit more about it. We would like to know if there is a lot of violence or misconduct in Chile. We would also like to know if its a peaceful country also. If you could answer these few questions, it would help a lot. Thanks!!!