Pangea

Book excerpt: This anthology of thirty-four short stories by twenty-five writers from thirteen countries reflects its title, 'Pangea', meaning 'all lands' or 'all earth'. The writers featured include journalists, scientists, a lawyer, a costume designer, a magazine editor, a crofter in the Scottish highlands, a bookseller, and a writer-in-residence at a young offenders' prison, and their stories are as different and as interesting as their occupations. Their narratives are equally diverse and distinctive; there are quiet voices, brave voices, tender voices, and haunting voices. And yet the perspectives of this collection, its range of tones - be they the raw intensity of a man's confrontation and failure on a road in Scotland, the dramatic preparations for a big birthday party in Nigeria, or the moment a young man comes face-to-face with his Bollywood idol - have enormous commonality; the conflicts faced and the emotions felt by the characters are recognizable, irrespective of the cultural identities of the authors or the cultural settings of the stories themselves. The writers of these unique short stories are all members of the online writers' community known as Writewords.