In these uncertain, tumultuous times, our collective vulnerability has been heightened, and positivity has become a precious commodity. More than ever, people are looking for hope and inspiration, and a little magic. Twenty-Two for 22—a collection of 22 literary pieces for 2022—delivers.

From India to Egypt and back, these meticulously crafted stories, poems, and travel vignettes bring together disparate lives as varied, colourful, and magical as the places that created them—a plantation, an archeological site in Peru, a post-earthquake neighbourhood in Portugal. Love and betrayal, fear and joy, forgiveness and blessing—each person and place is evocative of the whole of humanity:

A poor sweeper woman makes a decision with a startling result. A homeless man in a car accident makes the ultimate gift to the other victim. A memory keeper must pay the price for his avarice. Desert ancients bow to the wisdom of a fourteen-year-old runaway. A room in a faraway land steps back into the pages of history. Such is the fusion of life.

Twenty-Two for 22 will be of interest to readers—aged 18 years and older—looking for new writing about new cultures. People who value freedom of self over familial and (or) societal expectations may particularly find themselves reflected in these stories, poems, and travel vignettes.