“Travel invigorates and enlightens, and so does reading. You don’t have to go to the Congo to gain an understanding of the challenges women face there. You don’t have to go to Costa Rica to learn about resentment toward fly-by evangelism. You don’t have to go to Iran to sample Persian culture and anguish. When it’s done right—as the stories in this anthology are—fiction can transport you and show you the essential details, the soul of a place. A fiction writer is like an archaeologist in that way, digging, brushing away what doesn’t belong and revealing what a casual observer—a tourist—might miss. Read the book. Explore the globe. But remember, it’s a dangerous world.” 

                —from the Introduction in Volume I, by Clifford Garstang, editor

Table of Contents

Africa

Central African Republic

     Eggs, by Susi Wyss

Congo

     International Women’s Day, by Jennifer Lucy Martin

Uganda

     The Boy with Fire in his Mouth, by William Kelley Woolfitt

Zambia

     Following the Encantado, by Brandy Abraham

The Americas

Argentina

     A Difficult Thing, a Beautiful Comfort, by Richard Ballou

Canada

     Rue Rachel, by David Ebenbach

Costa Rica

     Heathens, by Alden Jones

Cuba

     The Money Pill, by Tim Weed

United States (Lousiana)

     Disaster Relief, by D. Peyton Burgess

Antarctica

     The Ecstatic Cry, by Midge Raymond

Asia

China

     Visiting Chairman Mao, by Jocelyn Cullity

Iran

     When Stars Fell Like Salt Before the Revolution, by Jill Widner

Israel

     Comfort Me with Apples, by Rochelle Distelheim

Kazakhstan

     A Husband and Wife Are One Satan, by Jeff Fearnside

Russia

     The Art of Living, by Teresa Hudson

Europe

France

     Au Lieu des Fleurs, by Matthew Pitt

Germany

     In the German Garden, by Jay Kauffmann

Hungary

     The Ring, by Marc Nieson

Italy

     The Widow’s Tale, by Joseph Cavano

Oceania

New Zealand

     Jean, by Holly Painter