About Us

Belletrista is a not-for-profit, bimonthly web magazine which seeks both to encourage cross-cultural understanding through international literature written by women and to increase the visibility of that literature.

Belletrista is the brain child of Lois Ava-Matthew but the idea has been developed and honed by a remarkable international group of readers who came together as our Board of Advisors, each bringing to the magazine special skills, talents and education. Our initial group of writers and reviewers come from the US, UK, continental Europe, Canada, Ireland, Australia and South Africa, a list that is expanding. A majority of our content is freelance-written.

We approach our mission as readers, not as academics or book industry professionals. Belletrista hopes to bring its unique view of women-authored, global literature to a broad audience of international booklovers, from the seasoned fan of world literature to the passionate reader who is just venturing beyond familiar literary shores.

Many of us, but not all, met on an international book cataloguing and social site called LibraryThing and have been discussing our reading with each other for years. www.librarything.com

Belletrista acknowledges the early and continuing support, financial and otherwise, of the Matthew family, The Toadstool Bookshop of Milford, New Hampshire, USA; and the generosity of many of its writers and advisors.


Contributors in this Issue

Kathleen Ambrogi is an American who has spent most of her life abroad, in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. After earning her M.S. in English Education, she taught English, Social Science, Art and Information Technology in schools around the world. Today she is a professional writer, sharing her impressions of cultural forces through fiction and nonfiction.

Andy Barnes lives in Bristol in the United Kingdom. He is an avid reader on a mission to discover great writing from as many parts of the globe as possible. Andy works in one bookshop, and volunteers in another, and when he isn't reading or selling books, he is usually talking or writing about them.

Carianne Carleo-Evangelist is a New Yorker who considers herself at home in cities throughout the world. When not traveling, she explores cities, countries and cultures through the pages of many books.

Caitlin Fehir is an English teacher living in southern Ontario, Canada. Her reading tastes change daily, and she is constantly adding to her never-ending list of books to explore. Her new-found love is traveling, an expensive hobby that is supplemented by seeing the world through literature.

Akeela Gaibie-Dawood lives in the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa. She enjoys nature and is a keen hiker. She loves books and the written word, and has a Masters degree in journalism. Her current reading challenge is to visit as many countries around the world, via books, as possible.

Rachel Hayes is a Brit living in Belgium. She reads a variety of mainly contemporary fiction, and enjoys seeking out translated fiction from areas of the world her literary travels haven't taken her to before. She attributes her interest in books written by women to an early obsession with Little Women, What Katy Did and The Chalet School.

F. T. Huffkin works for a London-based independent bookseller. She acquired a taste for modern fiction at university, where she produced theses on James Joyce and Toni Morrison.

Tim Jones is an author, poet, editor and anthologist who lives in Wellington, New Zealand. He is currently working on his second novel and third collection of poetry. As a reader, he especially enjoys Russian and South American literature in translation, poetry from New Zealand and around the world, and science fiction – plus everything from Elizabeth Jane Howard novels to Buffy comics.

Carolyn Kelly is a London-born Irishwoman who lives in Germany and works as a translator, writer and goatherd, though still saving up for the goats at present. She studied History in Dublin, which is really no excuse. She has an eclectic taste in reading, but doesn't like the word eclectic, because of the silly clicking noises it forces the tongue to make. Very undignified.

Amanda Meale is a music teacher who loves to read. She lives in Australia.

Meg Merrylees is an Australian reader living on the Murrumbidgee River with a husband and three children, plenty of kangaroos and the odd literary echidna. Favourite Australian women writers: Kate Grenville, Margo Lanagan and Christina Stead.

Kate Morgan is a former professional in the law enforcement and emergency services fields. She is a voracious reader of a variety of books, both domestic and international. She lives in the Northeastern United States.

Darryl Morris is a pediatrician who lives in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). Half of his days are spent taking care of hospitalized children, and he uses his time off to travel in the US and abroad, and to attend jazz and classical music concerts, plays, museum exhibits, and author readings, whenever he isn't reading.

Joyce Nickel is a corporate writer from Vancouver, Canada. When she's not reading or traveling, she can be found enjoying the outdoor lifestyle of the Pacific Northwest.

Charlotte Simpson lives in London. She reads a wide range of classic and contemporary fiction written by women and is currently focusing on Africa. She has a Masters degree in Modern British Women's History.

Andrew Stancek is a professional librarian, writer and translator living in Ontario, Canada. His current projects include work on his own novel, as well as translations of Slovak short stories and Czech poetry.