In his latest novel “Our narrow hiding places“, Kris Jansma, associate professor of English and director of creative writing at SUNY New Paltz, examines how a historical event leaves emotional scars on a family.

The novel is about Mieke, a grandmother from the Netherlands whose past as a survivor of the Hunger Winter – an event related to World War II in which the Dutch population starved – catches up with her when her grandson Will pays her an unexpected visit due to marital problems.

“He is still struggling with the aftermath of the trauma his grandmother experienced two generations later,” Jansma said in an interview with National Public Radio. Click here to view the full interview transcript.

The story was partly inspired by Jansma’s own connection to the Hunger Winter. His grandmother was a survivor herself and kept written records of the experiences of her family and friends during that time.

“I really wanted the novel to show a larger part of the story than the human characters can see,” he said in the NPR interview.

In addition to the NPR appearance, CBS’ Saturday morning news program aired a segment on “Our Tight Hiding Places.” Click here to watch the full video.

As a published writer, Jansma is also the author of novels “Why we came to the city”, “The Idealists,” And “The unchanging spots of leopards.” His short stories and nonfiction have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Salon, Real Simple, and the Alaska Quarterly Review. Read more about Jansma’s work here.

Learn more about SUNY New Paltz’s English department, including the creative writing program, here..