What's the point of fiction?
Peter Whittaker makes the case and introduces his choice of vibrant new writing.

For a broader horizon...
contacts beyond the rich-world pond.

Arrows of Rain
Enter a world of passion, intrigue and tyranny with Okey Ndibe.

Texaco
Patrick Chamoiseau evokes a Martinican shanty-town in his own mysterious and startlingly original way.

Creative flow
More of the NI's contemporary choices.

Weeping Susannah
A poignant and quirky offering from newcomer Alona Kimhi of Israel, told with deft style and comic pacing.

The Book of Shadows
Indian writer Namita Gokhale explores a woman's attempts to make sense of her life after a disfiguring acid attack.

Princess Caucubú Goes Shopping
Funny, cheeky, iconoclastic short story from Cuban Roberto Uría.

Illustration: Jonathan Williams

I have been a reader of the NI for over 20 years and have written for it as a book reviewer for 10. In common with most people, I suppose, I came to take its regular appearance every month rather for granted. Not any more! Editing this issue has given me firsthand experience of just how much thought and work has to go into each magazine. The image of a swan comes to mind, serenely floating on a river and showing no sign of the furious churning energy below the surface. It has also brought home to me what a collaborative effort putting together the magazine actually is.

But of course, this month’s theme is stories from the South and the greatest thanks go to the authors included here, without whose work we would all be the poorer. People have occasionally said to me that they consider the NI too ‘negative’. This is always a danger for a radical publication; if all we did was criticize the existing order then we could, however unfairly, be painted as mere carpers. Well, for all those who feel that we should celebrate the positive, this issue is for you; a magazine full of vibrant, challenging, exciting and original fiction from the South.

Peter Whittaker
for the New Internationalist Co-operative
ni@newint.org