From This Month's Editor

New Internationalist, Oct, 2001

I have been a reader of the NI for over 20 years and have written for it as a book reviewer for 10. In common with most people, I suppose, I came to take its regular appearance every month rather for granted. Not any more! Editing this issue has given me firsthand experience of just how much thought and work has to go into each magazine. The image of a swan comes to mind, serenely floating on a river and showing no sign of the furious churning energy below the surface. It has also brought home to me what a collaborative effort putting together the magazine actually is, But of course, this month's theme is stories from the South and the greatest thanks go to the authors included here, without whose work we would all be the poorer. People have occasionally said to me that they consider the NI too 'negative'. This is always a danger for a radical publication; if all we did was criticize the existing order then we could, however unfairly, be painted as mere carpers. Well, for all those who feel that we should cel ebrate the positive, this issue is for you; a magazine full of vibrant, challenging, exciting and original fiction from the South.

Peter Whittaker for the New Internationalist Co-operative