George Seremba

Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression.

A wealthy businessman shows his young adult kids how tough life can be.

Six stories about Montreal. 1: A young housewife from Toronto samples the nightlife using basic French. 2: The tale of a painting of Montreal's first mayor, Jacques Viger. 3: During a hockey game, Madeleine tries to tell Roger she wants a divorce after forty years of marriage. 4: A visitor to a conference on pictographs arrives at the airport, where the female customs officer steals a momento from each person. 5: As she is being driven to the hospital in an ambulance after an auto accident, Sarah recalls her life. 6: At a diplomatic reception, an older woman reminisces about her grand love in Montreal.

Maggie is an ordinary Canadian girl with the best of intentions who has signed on to work in a Catholic mission in Zimbabwe. With an ample supply of enthusiasm and ignorance, she consistently demonstrates her lack of understanding of the local culture. When she is robbed, she fights for the release of the man convicted of the crime and belatedly makes some attempt to understand her environment.

Ever get the feeling someone is talking about you?

Set in contemporary Dublin, this is a timeless urban tale about "Clocker" and "Sanga", two young street kids whose innocence is starkly contrasted by the harsh environment in which they both live. Over the course of a day and in their interactions with various characters in central city locations, Clocker and Sanga learn much about each other and themselves as the start of their friendship develops.

Sydney Fox is a professor and globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and/or the descendants of the original owner. She is aided by her linguistic assistant Nigel and occasionally by her somewhat air-headed secretary Claudia. She often ends up battling rival hunters seeking out artifacts for the money.