Alison Stewart's Blog, page 17

Cold Stone Soup – Foreign and Far Away: the New 2013 Anthology from Writers Abroad

 

 Here is an excellent idea for a Christmas (or any kind of) present:

Writers Abroad publishes its fourth anthology today. Titled Foreign and Far Away, it is a selection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry written by expats (or former expats) around the world on the theme of people and places.

Contributors live in, and have written about, more than 50 countries across every continent.

Foreign and Far Away, the fourth anthology published by Writers Abroad, explores the relationship between people and the landscapes and settings in which they live. An eclectic range of writing evokes the diversities, similarities, connections and misunderstandings of life in foreign places.

An excerpt from my unpublished memoir, Cold Stone Soup: An African Childhood, is included among the non-fiction contributions. 

Author Amanda Hodgkinson, who has lived in Southwest France since 2002, has written the foreword. Her award-winning debut novel, 22 Britannia Road, was published in 2011. Penguin Books will publish her second novel, Spilt Milk, in February 2014. 

Book Aid International will benefit from the proceeds of this year’s anthology. This charity increases access to books and supports literacy, education and development in sub-Saharan Africa. They provided 543,280 new books to over 2,000 libraries in 2012 and have sent more than 30 million books to partner libraries since 1954. See www.bookaid.org

Foreign and Far Away is available via Amazon at a price of $10.99, £8.99 or €9.99 from today, October 21, 2013, when these links will go live: Foreign and Far Away – Amazon.com and Foreign and Far Away – Amazon.co.uk. 

Writers Abroad was founded in 2009. It provides an online forum for expat writers to exchange ideas, views and news on writing and to offer support and constructive feedback on each other’s work. Membership numbers are limited but expat writers may apply to join if they are able to support the group’s initiatives and aims. www.writersabroad.com/.

 

Pomp Up The Volume – Scandinavia’s Modern Royals

Pomp Up The Royals is the first in a series of stories on Scandinavia. It looks at how Scandinavia’s royals have kept with the times in order to keep their heads on their shoulders, unlike others (think Marie Antoinette).

Upcoming Scandinavia stories will cover The Vikings and Scandinavia’s Waterworld.

You can read Pomp Up The Volume here. It was in The Sydney Morning Herald/Age Traveller on October 19, 2013:

 

Or read it online here: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/pomp-up-the-volume-20131016-2vmnc.html

Six Stages of Being – Akademie Street Boutique Hotel, Franschhoek

No trip to Cape Town should be complete without a foray into the Cape winelands, specifically my favourite, Franschhoek.

It’s worth spending a few days to fully appreciate this lovely village, first settled by French Huguenots in 1688. This is South Africa’s gourmet capital with wonderful restaurants to join the wineries. One of my favourites is still the perennial La Petite Ferme for lunch with a view down the Franschhoek valley. Ask to sit on the verandah.

Accommodation is also of high quality. The Akademie Street Boutique Hotel is a case in point. Read my story, Six Stages of Being, which appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald/Age Traveller on October 19, 2013. It’s also online at:

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/six-stages-of-being-20131016-2vmnh.html

 

Malawi, Land of the Lake – Luxury Travel

The Spring issue of Luxury Travel magazine has our story on Robin Pope Safaris’ wonderful adventure, travelling up the Shire River in Malawi.

You can read about The Land of the Lake here:

Malawi Land of the Lake

Underrated Books Project

Book blogger Rebecca of thebooker has compiled an interesting list under the title of “The Underrated Books Project”

Here is Rebecca’s explanation:

“There are some books that just don’t receive the credit they deserve; the kind that barely anyone talks about and you just wish that more people would read them. I’m sure you all know the kind I’m talking about – there must be a few on your shelf.

I’ve decided to run a project dedicated to underrated books, series and authors in an attempt to spread the word.

Essentially the plan is create a huge collection of posts on books that are classed as ‘underrated’. Not only are you getting some awesome book recommendations, but you are getting their book out there.”

My YA dystopian book, Days Like This appears on this list among many others.

Some of my favourites are there: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. Others I’d like to see on the list so that we don’t forget them: Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson, The Lake at the end of the World by Caroline MacDonald, Thunderwith by Libby Hathorn, The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard, The Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd, Dresses of Red and Gold by Robin Klein, Earthsong by Victor Kelleher – these are all Australian.

You can look at the list here:

http://thebooker.tumblr.com/underrated%20books

On The Hunt – Lake Kariba

Here’s Rob’s Lake Kariba tiger fishing story, published in The Sunday Telegraph’s Escape Magazine in August 2013. And you can also read it here: http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/tiger-fishing-on-lake-kariba-in-zambia-and-zimbabwe/story-e6frfqai-1226702399834

Pure Pleasure – Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, South Africa

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve is, to my mind, the best of both worlds – an excellent example of responsible ecotourism combined with luxury accommodation.

Here’s my story, which was published in The Sydney Morning Herald Traveller/Melbourne Age Traveller on September 14, 2013.

You can also read it online at: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/holiday-type/eco-tourism/pure-pleasure-20130911-2tk4a.html

Cape of Good Looks WDC2014

Cape Town, ever gorgeous, and now bearing the new title of World Design Capital 2014, is on a mission to keep re-creating itself as a socially inclusive city. Here’s my story, run in The Sydney Morning Herald Traveller/The Age Traveller on Saturday, August 10, 2013:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/cape-of-good-looks-20130807-2rg4h.html