The International Writer's Magazine - DECEMBER 2008 - Welcome

Destinations: Travel stories & guides

Opinion: Politics & Issues

Lifestyles: Ways of living

Mele Kalikimaka Roger Poppen Honolulu airport on Christmas Eve, a little before midnight A weekend in Dubai Aurelie Montfrond In ten years time, Dubai will become a global tourism destination Hidden People Jeannine Pitas A few years back my parents began hosting foreign exchange students Slowly Being Born E. Marin Smith I’m pretty sure the day I arrived in Buenos Aires was the hottest day of the year on the Rio de le Plata, which made the whole day seem like a fever dream The Africa Inside E Marin Smith I was back in Africa last night—an accidental and instantaneous African transport that shocked my sleeping mind. Akumal Beach Resort Dean Borok in Mexico I never imagined a place could come so far so fast. Quintana Roo state is now the richest state in Mexico due to the tourist boom. The Quirks of Cajas Tyrel Nelson in Ecuador Without warning, the skies turned overcast and a light rain began to fall Welcome to Kalymnos Julia Reynolds Kalymnos, a Greek island situated close to Turkey’s west coast about 300km southeast of Athens Java Journey John M Edwards Café Hopping in Indonesia I went out to get a cup of java in Java and ended up on an infernal coffee odyssey through the Indonesian archipelago Edinburgh Tetsuhiko Endo Edinburgh is all types of grey.    Monochromatic splendour: Granite grey, flagstone grey, rainy day grey, cold winter grey, fog grey, dawn grey, ghost grey... Planning the Trip Sam Black's journey to Alaska I believe in having goals. I’ve been that way since my early twenties I guess. Lion Hunting in the Serengeti Loree Westron "I give you good price," the man says, smartly-dressed with Reboks and Ray-Bans. He follows my eyes to the photograph of a lion in the safari shop window. Cuban Folklore Habeeb Salloum It was late in the evening when we left our hotel on Varadero Beach - Cuba's paragon of resorts for a half-hour trip to the city of Matanzas

The Bogus Battle for Christmas James Campion This just in: Christmas has nothing to do with religion. Around here, and by around here I mean America, it is the granddaddy of consumer holidays Money, Fraud and Moral Fibre Dean Borok As the old saw goes, 'Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.' We're All Fine + Reader mail James Campion in Mexico The Future is a myth The Changing of the Guard Mike Hardie ‘I will be guided by President Jefferson's sense of purpose, to stand for principle, to be reasonable in manner, and above all, to do great good for the cause of freedom and harmony...' The phenomenology of Change Ronald Elly Wanda Americans have an extraordinary sense of appreciation for ‘newness’ In God We Trust James Skinner ‘When I am ranting and raving over the state of the universe, usually directing my verbal abuse during conversations with my wife, she never says a word Insane Polyglots Their brains are just different Antonio Graceffo Learning a new language rewires your brain. Could learning a new language make you crazy? Submit your original work for Borderlines 09 now Borderlines Vol 2 A Literary Spark Fiction, travel & poetry From the School of Creative Arts University of Portsmouth available from Lulu Press & Blackwells, Amazon on-line

You Have Won One Million Dollars Norman A. Rubin One serious drawback of the Internet and of e-mail is that it makes it quite easy for nefarious villains to steal your money and your identity. In Kon Tum's Ethnic Villages & Orphanages David Calleja The ethnic minority people, the Bahnar, Jolong, Rongao and Sirang, are kind and hard working. All we wish for is to be as equal in wealth Fiachna O Braonain Interview Aurelie Montfrond Discussion with Fiachna Ó Braonáin From Hothouse Flowers to Prenup Anomaly Anomaly Jones picks her poison It must have been him. He’s the reason I sit here now, dazed and a bit confused. I’m known to confuse even myself sometimes. Monkey Master in the Cage Antonio Graceffo Master Hisam’s hands are huge and swollen, as hard as rocks. In demonstrations, he uses them to smash granite slabs to dust It's Over, Get Used To It. Dan Bond ‘Friends’ does not provide the best backdrop to one of those defining moments in teenage life. On the Scales Charlotte Francis It’s over ladies, chuck the chocolates away, and get used to salad Spontaneous Prose Tony R. Rodriguez Maybe I shouldn’t be driving 85 on a 65 MPH freeway when the road’s saturated with the rain from last night Finding Fidel David Russell For a glimpse of Castro To Heaven and Back: Ladakh Anirudh Chaoji Alchi is a Monastery, close to the town of Leh, high in the cold desert of Ladakh, in the eastern part of the trisected state of Jammu & Kashmir Nature and Nostalgia in Nagarhole Aruna Purohit It was the beginning of monsoon season in the southern region of India. Frequent rain and flooding are the essence of that season Christmas in Paris John Edwards With everything closed in the city and a light snowfall, it’s no wonder I ended up drunk in the slightly dodgy section of Barbés Rochechouart Patrick Ness Profile Aby Davis The world that Ness has created is incredibly imaginative and full of subtext to disturb and provoke challenging young minds

FICTION plus

FICTION Original Shorts

REVIEWS Film & Books

Stereotypical People Julia Gordon Jennifer was excited walking down the street in her tight red jeans. In the new jeans, the birds seemed to be singing just for her. It was a bright and fresh spring day, and Jennifer was bright and fresh If You Want Peace, Prepare for War Willie Better The Hero is one of the people in the filling station’s convenience store. He wears snug black jeans that disappear into tall black riding boots like cavalrymen wore when tilting towards each other in green fields, heroes all. Violence Maria Marlais And all women have killed themselves. They grew tired of the world, this world, our world. There are no women anymore. Pocketworld Paul Valentine Basildon was designed for traffic and adults: It was a soulless place for a child. You couldn’t walk anywhere in a straight line $20 a Gallon Adam Graupe The Inspector growled, “I am from the state department. What is the meaning of charging $20 a gallon for gasoline?”

The Walk Polly Card on Primrose Hill She had been looking forward to their walk. It was the last time she would see him before he went away and she had a question to ask. Granddad’s Chocolate Edmund Sandoval Granddad’s been hoarding the chocolate bars again because granddad’s crazy and he thinks his Vietnamese girlfriend is still alive. Red Irony William Bryant He was getting old, and it had been too long since my last visit. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him - living alone way out in the country like that A Morning Wave Adam Bonus So there I was in the middle of the pavement, soaked in my own urine with a butter knife in my hand.

A Most Wanted Man by John Le Carré Marcel D'Agneau review Opening a new John Le Carré is like meeting an old friend - it’s good company and you can’t quite recall why you haven’t been seeing more of him lately Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky A Dan Schneider reader Raskolnikov is in the process of learning how to game the 19th Century Russian legal system to his advantage, and the love of Bible thumping woman, even an ex-prostitute, can do no harm Chick Lit & Chick Flicks Callum Graham It’s sexist, elitist, self indulgent and often badly written. And you know what? It’s exactly the same as men’s This Is England Directed by Shane Meadows Dan Bond review "Sir, Put The Charge On Me". Start with a dash of Toots and the Maytals, add a little Roland Rat, a Rubik's Cube and Margaret Thatcher sitting in a digger Pulp Fiction A Post-Modern Magnum Opus Mike Hardie Pulp Fiction is one of an elite echelon of films viewed en masse until each line is memorized and re-enacted religiously. Rediscovering The Khmers by Antonio Graceffo David Calleja review For anybody going to Cambodia seeking real adventure with real people, you do not need a guidebook; you need this book.

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em and little fleas have lesser fleas ...ad infinitum - Augustus de Morgan

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