Kathleen Kern

KATHLEEN KERN has worked as a human rights advocate with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) since 1993, serving on assignments in Haiti, Washington, DC, Palestine, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and with indigenous nations in the U.S. and Mexico. She has authored two histories of CPT-- *In Harm's Way: A History of Christian Peacemaker Teams* (Cascade 2009); *As Resident Aliens: Christian Peacemaker Teams in the West Bank, 1995-2005* (Cascade 2010)--and her work has appeared in Tikkun, The Christian Century, and The Baltimore Sun. Her first novel, *Where Such Unmaking Reigns*, was selected as a finalist for Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize. Kern's chapter on mineral exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo appeared in *A Game as Old As Empire* (Berrett-Koehler 2007), the follow-up to John Perkins' *Confession of an Economic Hit Man.*

The kidnapping described in *Because the Angels* is based on a real-life hostage crisis that Christian Peacemaker Teams experienced between November 26, 2005 and March 23, 2006, when four CPTers were kidnapped in Baghdad and one, Tom Fox, was murdered. Kern writes, "Some of the novel reflects our desperate, blind attempts to keep our colleagues alive, but it also reflects the affirmation and solidarity we received from unexpected quarters and the grim humor that arose from dealing with absurd situations." (Immediately after the kidnapping, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh referred to CPT's work in Iraq as 'cutting edge' on a November 30, 2005 broadcast of Democracy Now.")

When Kern is not working in the field with Christian Peacemaker Teams she works from home in Rochester, New York, doing writing and editing for the organization. She is hoping the CPTers whose work she edits do not accuse her of hypocrisy when they see her use of passive voice in the above paragraph.

Tangential anecdote: After watching Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the author wrote to its creator, Joss Whedon, saying that becoming engrossed in the episodes had been therapeutic after a particularly difficult stint in the field with Christian Peacemaker Teams. She also noted that the humorous interplay between the main characters in Buffy was similar to the interactions she had had with her colleagues in the field. He wrote back, saying that he had wanted to do a show about human rights workers, but the networks weren't interested until he added vampires. Years passed before the author realized he was joking.