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Reviewed by Pennell Paugh June 18, 2024 (San Diego) -- The San Diego Writers & Editors Guild is a nonprofit, member-supported organization dedicated to promoting the writing arts in San Diego. The Guilded Pen has been publishing anthologies of its members’ short stories, essays, and poetry since 2012. The 2023 version, Traversing Life, is the Guild’s best collection of stories so far. I enjoyed every item in the book.
The book contains 24 short stories, 7 poems, and 13 essays. In many stories, the authors share major life events in fiction or in memoir pieces; one tells the life events of a library book; and another writes a fairytale about a frog. The book’s theme “traversing life” is spun, whipped up, and turned into something refreshing, stimulating, thought-provoking, soul-wrenching, or simply fun.
This reviewer found the stories to be polished, inspiring, profound, or astonishing; some have a combination of these qualities. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read a sample of San Diego authors who also enjoys originality and variety.
The book is available as an e-book and paperback online that can be purchased through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Bookstore.com.
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