The online writing group I belong to, Writers Abroad, published last week a new anthology of short stories and non-fiction articles, entitled Foreign Flavours. The theme of the anthology is food, drink and recipes from around the world.

It is a tantalizing collection of fiction and non-fiction, full of spice and flavour and sprinkled with mouth-watering recipes. The wide-ranging, sometimes bittersweet, contributions show how adaptable an ex-pat has to be to leave familiar dishes behind and venture into the culinary unknown.

Two pieces of mine are in it: ‘The Beekeeper’, a short story set in Corsica, and ‘When to Eat in Corsica’, a non-fiction article.

This is the second anthology published by Writers Abroad. All the contributors are, or have been, ex-pats living in places around the globe. Alexander McCall Smith, acclaimed author of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series and himself an ex-pat, has written the preface.

Foreign Flavours contains 64 contributions. Thirty-four are non-fiction articles and 30 are short stories. The anthology also includes 33 recipes.

Contributors live in and have written about the following places: Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Corsica, Cyprus, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mallorca, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Wales.

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to The Book Bus, a charity whose aim is to bring literacy and the joy of reading to children in the developing world. 

The paperback print version of Foreign Flavours is available from Lulu from today, Monday 24th October, price £9.60 (€10.99). At around 250 pages, it’s great value. An e-book version will be available soon.

To find out more about Writers Abroad and our publications, please go to our website.

The story, which addresses the issue of dementia, was published in the October print issue of Writing Magazine .

This year’s anthology is entitled ‘Foreign Flavours’. Writers Abroad are looking for fiction or non-fiction contributions on the topic of food, drink and cooking in far-flung places. Acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith has kindly contributed the foreword. You are eligible to submit if you are, or have been, an ex-pat. Submission is free.

The anthology will be published as a free  e-book and as a paper edition. All profits from the  paper edition will go to the charity Book Bus, which aims to promote literacy among children in Africa and South America. 

To read the submission guidelines and find out more, please click here.

For a free e-version of Writers Abroad’s 2010 anthology, please click on the image in the right-hand sidebar.

This was an open-themed competition, i.e. you could write a story on any subject of your choice. My story, Memory, which won first prize, addressed the issue of dementia.

The story will be published in Writing Magazine‘s October issue, along with a critique by the Competitions Manager, Richard Bell.

My online writing group, Writers Abroad, has just published a call for submissions for a new anthology, entitled ‘Foreign Flavours’.

The anthology is a celebration of food, drink and traditions associated with food throughout the world. Submissions can be either fiction (maximum 1,700 words) or non-fiction (maximum 1,000 words) and must be received by midnight on  Saturday 9th September 2011. One submission only per person.

Entry is open to expats or people who have been expats at some point. There is no payment for successful authors, but the anthology will be published as a free e-book and as a hard copy version using Lulu. All profits from the hard copy version will be donated to The Book Bus, a charity that promotes literacy among children in Africa and South America.

Our 2010 anthology was a collection of fictional short stories on the theme of expat life – the pleasures and the pain. To find out more about this year’s anthology and to download a free e-version of last year’s, go to the home page at Writers Abroad and click on the links.

50 Stories for Pakistan is out today. All proceeds are in aid of the flood victims in Pakistan. My story, The Sparkler, is one of the 50.

To read more about it or to buy a copy, please click on the link above. An ebook version will be available soon.

Please help us to help the Pakistan flood victims by buying it.

This is an American site, dedicated to promoting writing by women. To find out more, click here.

However, I’m pleased to have got that far. Lorraine Mace, who organises the competition says, “The standard was exceptionally high and to have made this list was an achievement in itself.” Thanks, Lorraine.

The aim of the competition is to give greater emphasis to Flash fiction, which sometimes gets overlooked in the wake of so many competitions about longer short stories. The winning entry is published every year in Words with Jam.

To find out more about Flash 500, click here.

Marit Meredith – Morning Toast
Alyson Hilbourne – Seconds
Rob Innis – The Long Journey
Me – The Sparkler

I’m delighted to be involved in this venture, which is in such a good cause. I hope it will sell lots of copies and make money for the flooding victims in Pakistan. Well done to Greg McQueen for organising it.

Just a reminder that you have about three weeks to submit a fictional short story to Writers Abroad for publication in an anthology of the same name, to be published in support of UK National Short Story Week (NSSW). You must be, or have been, an expat.

The deadline for anthology submissions is midnight on 15th October 2010.

For the submission guidelines, please go to the Writers Abroad site. Please follow the guidelines carefully, since all submissions not complying with them will be rejected.

We hope you will help us to support NSSW.