Clifford Garstang New Anthology: Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, Volume II Coming in September (South Korea)

New Anthology Travels to Twenty More Countries
Press 53 announces the publication on September 23, 2016, of Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, Volume II, an anthology of 20 stories by 20 authors set in 20 countries.

With a theme of “It’s a Mysterious World,” this exciting addition to the Everywhere Stories series, edited by award-winning author Clifford Garstang (South Korea 1976-77), takes readers on a journey around the globe: to a wrestling match in Turkey, to a mysterious eye doctor in Guatemala, to a homeless man wandering the streets of Chicago, to a religious school in Samoa, to a drowning in Mexico, to a fortune-telling monk in Korea, to a miraculous hotel in Egypt, and to more stories in countries on every continent.

With four contributors to the anthology, Cliff will appear at the Book Festival at George Mason University on September 27 at 1:30 pm. They will discuss the book and contributors will read from their stories. Books will be available for purchase.

The official launch of the book will be on October 7 at 7:00 pm at Black Swan Books & Music in Staunton VA. The launch will feature short readings by several of the contributors.

On Sunday, October 9, Cliff will be reading at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Contributors include Mark Brazaitis (Guatemala 1990-93; Staff 1995-96) author of The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award), Chris Cleary (The Ring of Middletown), James Dorr (The Tears of Isis, a 2014 Bram Stoker Award nominee), Christopher Woods (The Dream Patch), William Kelley Woolfitt (Charles of the Desert), plus Hira Cheema, Rijn Collins, Lucinda Nelson Dhavan, John Matthew Fox, Pamela Hartmann (South Korea 1973-75), Joel Hodson (Morocco 1974-75), Alison Grifa Ismaili, Robert Kostuck, Barbara Krasner, Gabriela Maya, Frances Park, Brandon Patterson, Brooks Rexroat, Candace M. Robertson, and Frank Scozzari.

Clifford Garstang is the author of What the Zhang Boys Know (Press 53, 2012), winner of the 2013 Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction, and the prize-winning linked story collection In an Uncharted Country (Press 53, 2009).

As Cliff says, “I have been an internationalist most of my life, from my first experience outside the United States as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Korea, to my international law career and work for the World Bank. My travels have had a lasting impact on my writing and also on my reading. Like many people who travel, I’m drawn to stories set in exotic locations, both to places I’ve seen firsthand and countries with which I’m unfamiliar.”

After receiving a BA in Philosophy from Northwestern University, Cliff went to South Korea, where he taught English at Jonbuk University. He then earned an MA in English and a JD, magna cum laude, both from Indiana University, and practiced international law in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Singapore with one of the largest law firms in the United States. Subsequently, he earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and worked for Harvard Law School as a legal reform consultant in Almaty, Kazakhstan. From 1996 to 2001, he was Senior Counsel for East Asia at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where his work focused on China, Vietnam, Korea, and Indonesia.