Barbara Rendall
[Novella] [Serial] [Essay]
Novella
Old Sugar
Barbara Rendall is a Canadian writer currently living in Beijing. Earlier, she lived in Macao, a fascinating city near Hong Kong, which is the setting of this story. She has published poetry in a variety of North American magazines and short fiction in Chatelaine and Redbook.
Old Sugar 2
Nothing says welcome like coming home to one's mother ...
Old Sugar 3
Trevor, stinging after his mother's "welcome," must now face his Aunt, Granny, and his obnoxious cousins ...
Old Sugar 4
Trevor's bed will be his Auntie's couch, his food whatever the family can spare. Having lost his income, what choice does he have?
Old Sugar 5
Staying with Aunt Cookie is all right -- unless you have grown accustomed to having your own bed and a bathroom door that shuts ...
Old Sugar 6
Is it an ill omen that Trevor would rather do laundry than have to visit the foreigners?
Old Sugar 7
Surely Trevor is going to wake up and find it has all been a dream ...
Old Sugar 8
Conclusion. When you've raced to find wealth and modernity, what will you have seen of the journey?
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Serial
The Twinning
A city in Canada, and a city in China -- so far apart, yet with so very much in common! Becoming sister cities should be the easiest thing in the world ...
The Twinning 2
Shanghai -- so modern, so westernized -- made the travelers feel right at home. How could any modern, worldly Canadian call China a "foreign" country? Yutian is going to be a great sister city ...
The Twinning 3
Getting used to a new climate is a challenge, but cultural shock begins at the table...
The Twinning 4
Hints of economic growth are all around the delegation as they tour Yutian, but behind the scenes, a mysterious land looms, and a way of life that none of them has ever experienced ...
The Twinning 5
A tour bus visiting a village is a source of income for the inhabitants, but what will they make of a tour bus in distress blocking a road?
The Twinning 6
The Canadian guests are venturing out on their own, and seeing China differently -- once they are willing to remove the distorting lenses of preconception...
The Twinning 7
There are a lot of sensitive questions the delegation wants to ask -- and Trish has come halfway around the world and can't escape one one of them.
The Twinning 8
The great honor of being invited to a banquet at the top of Great Wisdom Hill is extended to the Canadian delegates. Trish, in her slow ascent up the mountain, may come to understand its name...
The Twinning 9
A farewell banquet for their last evening in Yutian: beautiful music, exotic food, kind words -- and a diplomatic incident?
The Twinning 10
Conclusion. With souvenirs and Chinese presents packed in their bags, the delegation prepares to return to Canada. And they will carry with them another gift from China ...
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Essay
Being a Writer
This article originated as a talk given at the Creative Writing Forum sponsored by Renmin University Press, Beijing, China, July 13-15, 2016.
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