Belletrista

This is an archived issue of Belletrista. If you are looking for the current issue, you can find it here


Thirty-nine Arab writers under the age of 39. Akeela Gaibie-Dawood looks at the award and the women who were honored.	Carolyn Kelly in praise of Swedish author Åsa Larsson	SPECIAL FEATURE: More reviews! In keeping with our short fiction theme this month, we review anthologies.

Happy New Year, and welcome to Belletrista's exciting third issue!

In this issue we have chosen to emphasize short fiction. Author Tania Hershman has written a wonderful piece on the subject (click on "Stopping to Smell the Miniature Roses" below), and we have put together a special section of anthology reviews. We were very pleased to discover that The Guardian has recently published an article on women and short fiction, too (once again proving that great minds think alike)! Here's a link to their article; perhaps you will enjoy reading it as much as we have here at Belletrista.

We like to think we have something for every fiction reader in this issue, and we hope you will explore all the magazine has to offer—from our regular reviews and new & notable offerings, to our engaging feature pieces which explore the work of Åsa Larsson, Annie Ernaux, and the very welcome Beirut39 project.We hope you will enjoy Belletrista 3, and will be interested in reading some of the excellent books highlighted here. Please let us know what you think—your comments are always welcome!

Reviews
Below is a tantalizingly small selection of this month's reviews....

MY DRIVER

Maggie Gee

A comedy set against the backdrop of war might not seem viable, but Maggie Gee makes it work.
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Reviewed by Amanda Meale

THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY

Heidi W. Durrow

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, the haunting and beautifully written debut novel from Heidi W. Durrow, is much more than a simple coming of age story. It delves into a host of serious issues including race, class, love, loss and acceptance.
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Reviewed by Barbara Steeg

TRANSLUCENT TREE

Nobuko Takagi

Translated from the Japanese by Deborah Iwabuchi

Translucent Tree is a story that redefines what we know about romance, love, and the traditional means by which we try to obtain that love.
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Reviewed by C. Lariviere

GRAZING THE LONG ACRE

Gwyneth Jones

Gwyneth Jones has been writing amazingly good science fiction and fantasy, from a feminist viewpoint, for several decades now.
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Reviewed by Michael Matthew

THE VAGRANTS

Yiyun Li

The Vagrants is set in Muddy River, a fictional city in the Chinese provinces, in 1979. In the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, the country is being swayed by the democratic wall movement in Beijing, a popular movement calling for more openness and democracy....
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Reviewed by Rachel Hayes