By Johanna Craven, the Creative Director of non-profit publishing house Compassiviste Publishing.

At the end of last year, I had the pleasure of attending one of Tadpole Press’s community write-ins. I Zoomed in from my home office in Melbourne, and quickly found myself connected with writers from all around the world.

If you’ve ever attended one of these events, you’ll know it features a chat about different elements of the creative process, followed by a chance to put pen to paper and write in silence.

How great is this, I thought in those fifteen minutes of silent writing time, to be connected with other writers from all around the world, in an unspoken shared love of the written word? Writing, as many of you will know, is often a solitary pursuit, and there is something incredibly precious about building and celebrating a global community through our art.

Compassiviste Publishing began its partnership with Tadpole Press in 2024 because we share many of the same values—primarily a recognition of the power of words to make positive change in the world.

Compassiviste has no fixed location. Our organization has members everywhere from Pakistan to New Zealand, Germany to the Middle East. Just like Tadpole Press, we want to connect with people across the globe and amplify marginalised voices.

In my role at Compassivste Publishing, I’m lucky to be involved in the creation of our quarterly anthology, How to Save the World. This is a collection of short stories, essays, poetry, and digital artwork based on a different theme each quarter—each with a focus on making the world a better place.

What I love most about this project is the way our anthologies are filled with voices from all around the globe. We regularly receive submissions from six different continents. Unsurprisingly, people from different parts of the world have different perspectives, different ideas, and different voices—and sharing these views through the written word is immensely powerful.

In his book Stolen Focus, Johann Hari talks about how reading fiction makes us more empathetic. I believe this is true. And when we read the writing of someone from a different part of the planet to us, it allows us, however briefly, to view the world through their eyes. To see things as they see them. To acknowledge that ours is not the only way of thinking.

And what a precious thing it is to be surrounded by a global community full of different voices that all share your belief in the power of the written word.

Johanna Craven is the Creative Director of non-profit publishing house Compassiviste Publishing. They welcome submissions to their quarterly anthology. Visit their website for more details, including the current theme and submission deadline.