Issue 496 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

October 2016

World Fiction Special

Fiction has entered a new era. Writers of novels and short stories are no longer writing only for their own nation or even for readers speaking their own language but are breaking national boundaries and reaching a worldwide audience. In the process authors from Africa, Asia and Latin America are winning greater prominence – and a new phenomenon identified as ‘world writing’ has emerged.

This issue of New Internationalist not only analyses these developments but also showcases four exquisite short stories as examples: ‘Fat’ by Krys Lee from South Korea; ‘In The Garden’ by FT Kola from South Africa; ‘Ghosts’ by the Cuban-American Ana Menéndez; and ‘The Lake Retba Murder’ by Efemia Chela from Zambia and Ghana.

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In this issue

  • In the wake of Kissinger’s death, we republish this 2016 article by Mark Engler, who argued that progressives could never think kindly of him.
  • Louisa Reynolds reports on the country, considered the most violent in the world outside a war zone.
  • The suicide of a Cuban immigrant to Florida calls up all kinds of phantoms for Anna, herself a migrant from the Czech Republic. By Ana Menéndez.
  • A young South Korean‘s attempts to avoid conscription by becoming obese cause uproar in his family. Written by Krys Lee.
  • The president of the Philippines he may be, but his reputation is as a Dirty Harry of vigilante politics.