As part of our series on ethical travel writing, we recently spoke with Faith Adiele, travel writer, author, and founder of the nation’s first workshop for travel writers of color through VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation). We discussed misconceptions about the travel writing genre, how we can diversify the publishing industry, and whether or not we should make a distinction between travelers and tourists.
Read MoreVoices of Our Nations Arts (VONA)—at the time the largest and preeminent multi-genre summer workshop for writers of color—asked me to start a travel writing workshop. My heart thrummed. If any literary genre were in need of desegregation and decolonization, it was travel writing.
Read MoreAs part of our series on responsible travel writing, we recently spoke with Zabrina Lo, an arts and culture reporter for a storied English-language magazine in Hong Kong. We talked about the many ways Chinese and British legacies influence her hometown, her life, and her work.
Read MoreAfter returning from studying in London, a Hongkonger takes us on a culinary tour of her hometown.
Read MoreAs part of our series on responsible travel writing, we recently spoke with Tarryn Tomlinson, a TV presenter, travel writer, and accessibility consultant based in Cape Town.
Read MoreBolts of lightning flashed across the night sky, the only lights besides those flickering in the distance more than 3,000 meters below at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, glimmering evidence of refuge I would do just about anything for.
Read MoreAs part of our series on responsible travel writing, we recently spoke with Xu Xi 許素細, Indonesian-Chinese-American, born and raised in Hong Kong. She is the author of fourteen books of fiction and nonfiction and one of Hong Kong’s leading writers in English. She is also editor of five anthologies of Asian writing in English, most recently, The Art and Craft of Asian Stories: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology. She currently occupies the William H.P. Jenks Chair in Contemporary Letters at the College of the Holy Cross and leads international writing retreats through Authors at Large.
Read MoreTravelers invaded my childhood. They were always there—well-heeled Westerners who stayed at the Peninsula Hotel; less affluent tourists from other hotels at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula jutting into the Hong Kong harbor; American sailors who poured out of battleships for their R&R, especially during the Vietnam war years; British and other expatriate hires relocating to their well-paid jobs as civil servants, university professors, medical, legal and other professionals, teachers in the foreign schools, diplomats and foreign correspondents.
Read MoreWe are trying to expand our sense of self, and expand our empathy, and ability to hold stories that are not ours. That's for me what my work is about. And pushing conversations without pushing folks away, is central to that.
Read MoreAs part of our series on responsible travel writing, Dr. Anu Taranath explores the politics of writing by contributing a series of TIPS Letters, an exercise that has become a cornerstone of her teaching on culture, diversity, and social justice. You can use the exercise to engage more deeply with Things, Ideas, People, and even yourself.
Read MoreWhat does it mean to decolonize, or de-center, travel writing? How do we respect and acknowledge the cultures we visit? In a field rife with mis-representation and exoticization, we get one step closer to authentic representation with our new series of essays and interviews with some of the world’s best writers.
Read MoreFor many women, being “undomesticated” is not a choice. Every day as we dream of traveling, other women and children are being forced from their homes and countries due to abuse, war, or other disasters. We’ve rounded up some of the best ways to help refugees fleeing disasters around the world, including the war in Ukraine.
Read MoreWe’re in the first month of the Year of the Tiger—a sign known for strength, courage, and independence—so let’s celebrate with “tiger” stories by some bold, undomesticated women.
Read MoreSince reading Xu Xi and Robin Hemley’s latest offering, The Art and Craft of Asian Stories, I’ve been reconsidering everything I learned in my chi-chi American liberal arts college education.
Read MoreAward-winning Japanese author Shion Miura’s latest novel is a moving coming-of-age story about Yuki Hirano, an aimless 18-year-old city boy. We meet Yuki as he’s embarking on a year-long forestry apprenticeship that his parents hope will help him mature.
Read MoreAnjanette Delgado is the editor of a new anthology, Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness. We recently spoke with her and discussed the complexity of Florida and how Americans see and experience it in different ways.
Read MoreOur editors and contributors rave about the best books we read this year.
Read MoreGina Frangello’s latest book, Blow Your House Down, tells the story of how she left her bad marriage in explosive fashion and is a testament to a woman’s power to make choices for herself, even if they’re deeply unpopular.
Read MoreMy hair elicits a global response. Its reception shifts like dialects do, as slight reinterpretations on a theme. In Rodez, France, I wore it as a lion does its mane. The stares were unrelenting, as though we were on safari.
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