Shannon Ritchie has worked as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State since 2009. She was most recently the Information Officer for the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia. Shannon has also served in Consular positions in Yekaterinburg, Russia; Washington, D.C.; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Caracas, Venezuela. Before entering the Foreign Service, Shannon worked at the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. Shannon has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University. She speaks Spanish, German, Russian, Latvian, and French.
Kristina Marie Darling: Tell us more about your role at the Embassy in Lomé, Togo.
SR: I am a Public Diplomacy Officer, and I have been a member of the U.S. Foreign Service with the Department of state for over 15 years. During my last tour in Riga, Latvia, I was the Press Attache, and I am currently the Public Affairs Officer and the head of the Public Diplomacy Section in Lome, Togo. Public Diplomacy Sections are tasked with building bridges of understanding, and we do this through press and social media engagement, educational and professional exchanges, and of course, the arts. Both in Eastern Europe and now in West Africa, the arts have been key to implementing U.S. priorities.
KMD: How does your work intersect with poetry and the arts?
SR: I will share a few examples, though I’m sure my colleagues across the globe could fill in countless more.
In my personal career experience, I try to seek out writers and poets whom the Embassy can nominate for the International Writing Program (IWP) residency at the University of Iowa. This is an incredible program affectionately called “the UN of writers.” One Latvian poet, Madara Gruntmane, whom I nominated and was selected to participate, returned home and launched an annual poetry festival as a result. She said “The exchange program allowed me to realize that the world of poetry is much wider than I was thinking and sowed the belief that Latvia needs a poetry festival where poets from around the world come together.” Other past alumni have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in literature, and I am sure that being exposed to such a wide array of writing and culture early in a career has an impact. The program facilitators have also told me what a benefit it is for them to welcome writers from smaller, less represented countries, especially to have them facilitate some of the university courses. I am determined to nominate a writer every year, and I go to book launches in every country to try to find new candidates.
My team in Togo is now running a series of book discussions based on books by American writers, especially focused on soft skills and professional development. In West Africa, the youth population boom means many new graduates are without jobs or are underemployed, and the United States wants Togolese to have exposure to English language arts to unlock their potential, especially for Togo to be a trading and investment partner. The practical book discussions have been popular, and we hope in the future to bring one of the authors themselves here as an envoy to lead the discussion, as I know many other Embassies do regularly.
In Riga I often helped give visitors a guided tour of the Art in Embassies exhibit at the chancery. These permanent collections in U.S. diplomatic facilities include original works of art and site-specific commissions of American and host country artists. In Riga I particularly loved showing visitors the art by Latvian artist Gundega Strautmane, who employed the Braille code in order to create artifacts perceptible to both the blind and people with eyesight.
Music exchanges are another common way my job intersects with the arts. U.S. Embassies regularly invite all sorts of musicians and bands to collaborate with local groups, from bluegrass to hip-hop and beyond. In Russia I traveled with a visiting American guitarist to a far-flung industrial outpost where he gave a concert. There was significant interest from the public and local media, and he spent significant extra time showing students and fans how best work a pedal board. This was a far richer culture-to-culture interaction than I would be able to accomplish on my own.
KMD: In your experience, what do the arts make possible for forging connections across languages, worldviews, and cultures?
SR: The arts, of course, are a universal language but in a more complex way than you might think. They force us to think critically, to analyze, to try to understand the artist’s message and to understand our own reaction to it. There is an intangible quality to art that impacts us – for example, the body language of actors, the camera angle of a filmmaker, the change in tempo and volume of music, the hues of color in a painting. Sharing an art surpasses language, and it is exciting to me that the Department of State’s cultural exchanges are continually more inclusive of those with differing abilities, from working with a diverse slate of artists to ensuring broad accessibility to art in all forms; the Braille art I mentioned is one example, and ensuring captioning and alt text for film and photos is another.
I encourage American artists and writers to consider formally or informally becoming arts envoys and to visit other countries to mentor and network. The impact is substantial and the benefit is always mutual. Artists may also want to consider joining the U.S. Foreign Service, to further enrich the diversity of our diplomatic ranks as we represent our country to the world. Check out careers.state.gov for more info.
KMD: Can you share a story of cross-cultural exchange that you’re especially proud of?
SR: U.S. Embassy Lome gave a grant to one of Togo’s only film schools to bring iconic American film and TV trailblazer Tim Reid (WKRP Cincinnati, Sister Sister) to Togo in 2023. He gave hands-on practical training to Togolese and other West African filmmakers and students. In less than two weeks these students, some of whom had never used the rule of thirds or who thought writing a script was unnecessary, created and produced their own spectacular film with Tim’s coaching. Tim’s message to the students, the film schools, and industry leaders was simple: you are the ones who should be telling the world your story through your eyes. So make it so high quality that people have to watch it. Tim is now traveling to other countries throughout Africa to spread the message, thanks to the raw enthusiasm and passion he saw in Togo.
KMD: What programs are you currently working on? What can we look forward to?
SR: Our Public Diplomacy Section has invited Brooklyn-based jazz fusion band, the Huntertones, to return to Togo nearly 10 years after their first visit as Art Envoys. They will play at the annual Togoville Jazz Festival this spring and will workshop/jam with local musicians and students. Their last visit in 2016 inspired them to write and record a song called “Togo,” so I can’t wait to see what this visit brings.