I am delighted to introduce the international literary anthology Story Chat Digest: Where Stories Meet, edited and compiled by Marsha Ingrao. I’m honoured to be part of it.
Now in its third volume, Story Chat Digest continues its tradition of bringing together international voices in short fiction and poetry. What began as an interactive online literary challenge has grown into an established anthology series and ongoing writing-and-reading community built around thoughtful conversation, continuing a tradition of collaborative storytelling.
In this volume, writers from around the world contributed short fiction and contemporary poetry inspired by the Story Chat community at AlwaysWrite.blog.
Each piece stands alone, yet together they form a tapestry of voices exploring memories, mysteries, resilience, humour, faith, family, and the quiet complexities of ordinary life — with a few science fiction pieces woven in for imaginative contrast.
This anthology captures not just the stories themselves, but a sampling of connections that inspired them.
Extract:
But Is It Poetry?
By
Cathy Cade
My verses scan, their lines carefully rhymed
and of a length, with syllables aligned.
their beats are like bars in a melody's score.
Their rules are like bars of a cage.
But of words know no restraints, how do I tame them?
If lines have no boundaries, how do I shape them?
Un-rhymed and unmetered, how can I know
if my lines are poetry or portioned prise?
Rhythms of other cultures don't speak to my feet.
Atonal chants of distant lands sound alien to my ears.
Dare I break free from the safe pen I know and risk unchartered freedoms?
Will my words soar like a bird from its cage,
or crash like an unprepared fledgling?
(The fowl squwaking of the earth-bound.)
As carrier pigeons, once freed, find their way back home,
I wing my way back to the rhymes of my comfort zone.
My review
Being involved in Story Chat may make me a little biased, I grant you, but it's a brilliant book! What I love about the anthology is the mixture of writing forms and styles. They all come together to make a beautiful, powerfully written book. There's poetry, flash fiction, longer stories and advice on writing - something for everyone.
I also like how the editor, Marsha Ingrao, invites the reader to look more deeply at the text, and asks questions of them. Of course it's up to you if you answer. At the end of some of the pieces, members of Story Chat give their feedback; to any writer, this is invaluable. We need to know if our writing works and connects with readers, or what we could do better.
Marsha has also included a little bit of fun in Story Chat's pages, but you'll have to read it to see what I mean.
Five stars from me.
About the Editor
Marsha Ingrao is the founder and online host of the Story Chat community and the compilation editor of the Story Chat series. A lifelong educator, she continues to foster global literary conversation through blogging, collaborative anthologies, and virtual gatherings.
After retiring from public education, she expanded her work into writing, photography, and publishing. She believes strongly in lifelong learning and the power of shared storytelling to build connections across cultures.
Blog:www.alwayswrite.blog
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Esther Chilton 
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