I’m happy to announce that my story, ‘Nazar 72’, has been published in Foreign Encounters, the third travel anthology from Writers Abroad.
Writers Abroad received 231 submissions of which they selected 95 for the anthology. And five of those contributions came from our very own Itinerant Writers Club. Well done to HelenM, HelenW, Bex and Jean for having their pieces published in the anthology too.
There are 16 poems, 38 short stories and 41 non-fiction articles in this book, the theme of which is summed up by Writers Abroad:
‘An encounter can be a chance meeting, a planned get-together or even a confrontation. This collection of stories, non-fiction articles and poems features a variety of foreign encounters: with family, friends, lovers, animals, cultures, or just with one’s own prejudices and preconceptions.’
This year’s foreword has been written by Julia Gregson (last year’s was written by Alexander McCall Smith). Her best-selling novel East of the Sun won the prestigious Prince Maurice Prize for romantic fiction.
‘This fascinating diverse collection of short stories, non-fiction and poems from Writers Abroad, has made me laugh, and made me cry and made me think, about what the expatriate life does to the people we love… ‘ writes Julia, ‘… I know just how complicated, how exciting, how messy, how surprising the expatriate life can be, and I applaud the subtlety, the humour and the insight with which this new collection of writing harvest these rich pickings.’
All proceeds from the book, which can be bought online from Lulu, will be going to Books Abroad, the charity which helps educate children worldwide by sending free school books carefully chosen to match the needs schools.
Excerpt from ‘Nazar 72’:
‘When Nazar met our coddled cat, he fell in love. Unlike many Indians, he adores pets, but the few ragamuffin moggies you see in India are tiny. To him Millie was an exotic sleek-coated giant. When he discovered she knew the word “fish” he’d arrive at the boat calling “Fish! Fish! Fish!”… ‘
If you’d like to read more about Nazar 72 and help to educate children, please purchase a hard copy of the anthology by clicking on the image.
STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS
Foreign Encounters is now available as an e-book.
It’s nice to see the face behind the story. He sounds like a lovely man – and I loved your story, Liz
Thanks for the kind comments. And great to meet you, Chris.
Hi Liz, nice to meet a fellow contributor to the anthology! Enjoyed your story, especially the descriptions, which create a great visual image to go with the narrative.