Carol DeMent

A child of military parents, Carol DeMent was born in Paris and sadly does not remember a thing about it. Back in the states at age two, she grew up in Maryland and California, went to college in Montana and Washington State, and lived for brief and exciting summers in Arizona and Washington, DC. All this traveling about must have put a bug in her ear, for in her late twenties she signed up for the Peace Corps and went to teach English in Thailand. Additional travels have taken her to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Nepal, as well as Canada, Germany and Mexico. All this to say, Ms. DeMent is fascinated by culture and language. In particular, she likes to examine the ragged edges where two very different cultures have occasion to meet, to clash, to stumble, to surprise and very often, to enrich and enliven the other. Her work with refugees and her own experiences abroad have given her a trove of material for her novels and other works.

A licensed acupuncturist and herbalist for twenty years, Ms. DeMent, now retired, lives in Washington State.