麻豆社

May Tha Hla, who is Anglo-Burmese, has used her local knowledge and connections to provide schools in delta villages devastated by cyclone Nargis five years ago.

Writer Jacqueline Walker tells the traumatic story of her mother's journey from Jamaica to the United States and finally to Britain, where she was held in a mental hospital.

From El Salvador, a former gang member known as 'Butterfly' tells how she first got involved aged 14.

And food writer Anya Von Bremzen remembers the tastes of her Soviet childhood. Her memoir is called Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking.

Picture: May Tha Hla in the Irrawaddy delta