The following interview grew out of questions posed by a literary agent interested in my background and my writing.
A talk with the author
Do you use a pen name?
No pen name, I use Robert Gribbin or Robert E. Gribbin
Why do you write?
As an American diplomat in Africa for forty plus years I
wrote thousands of reports of meetings, visits, travel, political, economic and
social analyses, policy studies and recommendations, and more. The culmination of my official career was my
memoir about the genocide in Rwanda. I
gradually transferred writing skills to anecdotes that could be published and
to fiction. In my retirement years I
focused on novels and short stories accurately set in Africa and on stories for
my grandchildren – whimsical magical stories for little girls and scary
campfire tales for older boys.
What do you do besides writing?
Outside of writing, I stay connected to African and foreign
policy issues. I am the family historian and genealogist. I enjoy golf and
sailing. I built a log cabin along a river in West Virginia where I find peace.
What is your educational background?
I earned a BA in
history, cum laude with honors, from the University of the South, Sewanee,
Tennessee, (1968) and an MA in international relations from The Johns Hopkins
School of Advanced International Studies (1973). I successfully completed the
Foreign Service Institute’s intense 20-week graduate level economic training
program in 1977. I speak French and Swahili.
What are some of your publications?
I wrote In the Aftermath of Genocide: the U.S. Role in
Rwanda, iUniverse, 2005, a memoir about service in Rwanda, the causes and
effects of genocide, what the U.S. knew and did not know. I produced self-study
guides for East Africa, South Africa and Liberia, for the Foreign
Service Institute in 2000. An article Implementing
AFRICOM: Tread Carefully was published in the Foreign Service Journal, May
2008. I published a novel, State of Decay, an Oubangui Chronicle
Infinity Press, 2001, another novel Murder
in Mombasa, smashwords.com, 2013, a third novel, The Last Rhino,
iUniverse.com, 2020, a fourth The Serpent of the Nile, kdp.com, 2021,
and a fifth Finding Kony, kdp.com, 2023. My latest book is My African
Anthology, kdp.com, 2024. I authored a chapter entitled After the
Genocide in The Crisis of the African State, Marine Corps University
Press, and an article Twenty Years After Genocide for the online
magazine of American Diplomacy.org. I also wrote an article entitled Ralph
Izard – Commissioner to Tuscany, for Carologue, the magazine of the
South Carolina Historical Society. I
regularly contribute fiction and lighter pieces about life in Africa to the
Foreign Service Journal and book reviews to americandiplomacy.org and
friendsofkenya.org. Finally, I won second prize in a PeaceCorpswriters.org
contest for a six-word story. “Piped water frees girls for school.” I blog on African
Reflections, www.rwandakenya.blogspot.com.
What is your writing routine?
I do not follow a set routine for writing. I sit and type any
time of day or evening in my lower-level office when something is bubbling in
my head. When I get going, I can write
for hours at a time. I pause often to edit and review. I am motivated when I think I have a good
story. I do not make careful outlines, but sketchy ones. I just let the ideas
come to me. I write mostly for my own enjoyment. If I create something that
others enjoy or learn from, so much the better.
As a retiree, my time is mostly my own. So, I can budget and focus on
what I want to do, when I want to.
Tell about The Last Rhino.
The thought and theme for The Last Rhino grew out of my
first novel State of Decay. I thought there would be some good adventure and a
focus on conservation in a story set in the Congo. I carried two characters,
Philippe and Ndomazi, from State of Decay forward. The rhino part resulted from an earlier trip
to Kenya where we encountered the last two remaining northern white rhinos at
Ol Pejeta conservancy. I knew that their historic range included northern Congo
and that Garamba Park there remained undeveloped. The message was that wild Africa is under
siege from lawlessness, inattention and poaching. There is, however, still time
to reverse the situation. The ending of
finding living rhinos in the care of traditional people underlines the fact
that modern is not always the best solution. Additionally, the story is about
second chances and the need to take advantage when they occur.
The most difficult part of the book to write was how to put
traditional Africans and their beliefs into a believable context for the
story. I liked the idea that the rhino
embodied the spirit of the guardian of the people, so, went with that.
Who is your intended audience?
I am never quite sure who my intended audience is. Foreign
Service personnel, returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and others who know Africa
well enjoy the stories because they legitimately validate their
experiences. I think, however, that my
readership is wider. Anyone who is up
for a good, somewhat exotic tale will enjoy the stories.
One of my key strengths is that the Africa I write about is
the one that exists. The situations,
encounters, descriptions, people, geography and dialog are accurate. More than
one reader has noted that my books ought to be primers for anyone interested in
Africa because they are so true.
Do you have any new projects underway?
I am currently engaged in polishing up a new novel, entitled
Freida’s Secret. It is, of course, set in Africa beginning during the age of
exploration in the 19th century and culminating with the discovery
of a hidden treasure in the 20th.
The historic part of the story tracks Henry Stanley’s 1880s expedition
to relieve the beleaguered governor of Equatoria, Sudan, Emin Pasha. Pasha’s mixed-race
daughter Freida enters the tale and the fictional part of the novel traces her
life in Africa and subsequently in Germany during the Nazi era. Freida’s secret
is finally discovered by a young America who travels back to conflict ridden
Africa to retrieve the treasure.
I do not have other projects currently in mind, although
something may pop up. When and if it does, I am sure it will be Africa related.
How to contact you?
