All food is surrounded by narratives. Each dish has a story to tell, each ingredient has a provenance that sparks a journey of tales. Its fascinating how each day, the food we eat revolves around the voices and scenes that comprise our lives: over lunch we hear gossip—little stories in themselves—over dinner we recollect our day, gather goings on, and in between we move from one meal to the next, with a book open or a television show to accompany us as we chew and digest. In this issue, we thought its about time we explore fiction and food. In three short stories, written by some of the most exciting voices in fiction today, the capacity of food to tell stories is on display: happenstances ranging from the puzzling (Eliza Victoria’s “Premium”), the bittersweet (Thor Balanon’s “It’s All Right”), to just downright dark and bizaare (Dodo Dayao’s “Animal Magic”). Elsewhere in the issue, we have essays on food and writing, and a book review of Man Booker Int'l. Prize winner.
