Inspired by real events, informed by Rolf Albert Yngve's thirty five years of active duty, and shaped by his literary talent, Any Watch They Keep tells a spell-binding story of men and women who are caught between their own desires, the demands of their service and the mystery of an unforgiving sea.
A novel by Rolf Yngve
2009 Indiana Review Fiction Prize
About "Efendim"
Winner, 2009 Indiana Review Fiction Prize
"In the cauldron of a high seas pirate and hostage standoff, 'Efendim' offers a nervous and pressurized world by way of a rolling kaleidoscope of viewpoints. The story is braced with that rarity, real things, and bears a confident authority; there is something of Conrad here. This ponderous ordeal flashes at us, the life and death moments like the myriad
reflections on the water."
Ron Carlson
Any Watch They Keep
Read "Efendim"
Press here to read "Efendim" from the spring/summer 2010 edition of the Indiana Review
Watch here for Any Watch They Keep release information.
This story found its way when Heather McHugh encouraged me to write a short piece of fiction about the pirates who highjacked the Maersk Alabama in April 2009. That resulted in "Efendim", the winner of the 2009 Indiana Review fiction prize. Kevin McIlvoy pointed me toward use of the short story as the fulcrum for a novel. I worked on the manuscript during MFA studies at Warren Wilson with Stephen Dobyns, Peter Turchi, David Haynes and Alex Parsons.
It's about command at sea. It's about loyalty, longing,
friendship, ambition and love. It's about sailors and
their masters."
Rolf Yngve.