Presentation to the staff of Novelist on travel writing and readers' advisory.

1. Travel Writing
Dr. Robert Burgin
Author of Going Places: A Reader’s Guide to Travel Narrative
Travel Writing 1

2. The Book
 Published by Libraries
Unlimited (ABC-CLIO)
 Part of the “Real Stories”
series
 Cords, The Real Story
 Cords, The Inside Scoop
 Roche, Real Lives Revealed
 Zellers, Women’s Nonfiction
 O’Connor, Life Stories
 Stoeger, Food Lit
Travel Writing 2

3. Defining Travel Writing
 Travel writing vs travel guides
 Fodor’s, Frommer’s, Rick Steves
 Writing vs photography vs “graphic”
 Australian Colors: Images of the Outback by Bill Bachman
 You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons by Mo
Willems
 Voluntary travel vs work related vs forced
 Don’t Look Behind You!: A Safari Guide’s Encounters with
Ravenous Lions, Stampeding Elephants and Lovesick Rhinos
by Peter Allison
 Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey by Ariel
Dorfman
Travel Writing 3

4. My Definition
 One or more travelers …
 Take a voluntary trip …
 To one or more places …
 And share their personal thoughts, perceptions,
reactions, and experiences.
 Intended to be read and enjoyed in a linear manner,
from start to finish …
 And not referred to simply on an as-needed basis.
Travel Writing 4

5. History of the Genre
 Earliest narratives involve travel
 The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey
 Earliest travel writing
 Herodotus, Hecataeus of Miletus, Pausanias
 Heavy focus on place
 Major focus for much of travel writing’s history
 Why?
 Until spread of railroads, travel was strenuous, slow,
expensive, and dangerous
Travel Writing 5

6. History of the Genre
 Later focus on the purpose of the travel or the traveler
 Faxian, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms (399-412)
 Nasir Khusraw, Safarnama (11th century)
 Basho, The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other
Travel Sketches (1694)
 Early expatriate writing
 Early travel humor
Travel Writing 6

7. History of the Genre
 Key points:
 Destination may be an important factor in the appeal of
travel narratives, but …
 It is by no means the only appeal factor
Travel Writing 7

8. Appeal of the Genre
 People read travel writing …
 For pleasure
 Because they are interested in a destination
 Because they are interested in some subject
 For the beauty of the writing
 For a sense of similarity
 For a sense of difference
 As part of their own travel
 In place of travel that they can’t take
 For the usual appeal factors
Travel Writing 8

9. My Sub-Genres
 A Sense of Place
 Quests
 The Journey
 Getting There Is Half the Fun
 The Expatriate Life
 Travel Humor
 Travel Adventure
Travel Writing 9

10. A Sense of Place
 Focus = The destination
 The physical beauty of a place
 This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland by Greta Ehrlich
 The people who live there
 Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple
 Cities
 Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by
Katherine Boo
 Nature
 The Birds of Heaven: Travels with Cranes by Peter Matthiessen
 Endangered places
 Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal by Peter Thomson
Travel Writing 10

11. Quests
 Focus = The purpose of the travel
 In search of food
 Everything but the Squeal: Eating the Whole Hog in Northern Spain by John
Barlow
 In search of history
 Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron
 In search of legends
 The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
 In search of a concept
 The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the
World by Eric Weiner
 In the footsteps of …
 Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Travel Writing 11

12. The Journey
 Focus = The traveler or travelers
 Travel that heals
 To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron
 Travel that leads to self discovery
 Native Stranger: A Black American’s Journey into the Heart of Africa by Eddy L.
Harris
 Travel to one’s past
 The Stone Boudoir: Travels Through the Hidden Villages of Sicily by Teri
Maggio
 Return trips
 An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot
 Family travel
 Wrong About Japan: A Father’s Journey with His Son by Peter Carey
Travel Writing 12

13. Getting There Is Half the Fun
 Focus = The means of travel
 On Foot
 A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
 On the Rails
 Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul
Theroux
 On the Road
 Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-
Moon
 On Two Wheels
 Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World by Ewan
McGregor and Charley Boorman
Travel Writing 13

14. The Expatriate Life
 Focus = Longer stays
 A Year or Two in …
 Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest
Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr
 Living Abroad
 Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in a by Chris
Stewart
 Living with Others
 Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey by Isabel
Fonseca
Travel Writing 14

15. Travel Humor
 Focus = Humor
 Wit and Wisdom
 In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
 Crazy Ideas
 Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
Travel Writing 15

16. Travel Adventure
 Focus = Adventure
 Thrill Seekers
 True Spirit: The True Story of a 16-Year-Old Australian Who
Sailed Solo, Nonstop, and Unassisted Around the World by
Jessica Watson
 Unexpected Adventures
 Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
 They Were Heroes
 The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by
Candace Millard
Travel Writing 16

17. Fiction Read-Alikes
 Strong sense of place: David Guterson
 Set in specific places: Lawrence Durrell, Donna Leon,
Naguid Mahfouz
 Journeys for enlightenment: Paulo Coelho
 Methods of travel: Agatha Christie, Greg Moody’s
Cycling Murder Mysteries
 Travel humor: Charles Portis, Evelyn Waugh
 Travel Adventure: Daniel Defoe, James Dickey
Travel Writing 17

18. Keeping Up
 Any New Books? =
http://anynewbooks.com/
 Specify the category or
genre
 42 categories
 Including “Literature and
Fiction,” “Mystery and
Thrillers,” “Sci-Fi and
Fantasy,” etc.
 Get weekly emails
 My blog
 TravelWithABook.com
Travel Writing 18

19. Questions?
Travel Writing 19