In November St Albans will host its inaugural Literary Festival and as part of the four-day event I’m delighted to be organising the Travel Writing Workshop on Saturday, 8th November at the Cross Street Centre on Upper Dagnall Street. What I’m particularly thrilled about is the opportunity to introduce the visitors to the St Albans LitFest to some of my favourite travel writers.
Five top-notch writers from the travel world (along with me) will be reading one of their published travel stories and there will be time for the audience to ask the writers about the adventures behind each of the stories.
Here are writers who will be presenting at the LitFest (here in alphabetical order):
Amy Guttman – CBS News, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic, NPR, Monocle
Yom Kippur in Iran: Observing the Day of Atonement with Tehran’s Jewish Community
Andy Jarosz – National Geographic Traveller, Coast, Journeys, BBC Travel and CNN Travel
To Central Asia with a box of soil: Travelling through Uzbekistan to deliver a very special gift
Steve Keenan – Travelperspective.co.uk, previously online travel editor for Sunday Times, deputy travel editor of the Times
The Worst Rail Journey Ever: Recalling a less than perfect train ride from Venice to Belgrade
Ben Lerwill – National Geographic Traveller, The Independent, Rough Guides, Wanderlust, Time Out
Cities in the Clouds: A 9-day journey on foot through the Peruvian Andes, following one of the alternative Inca trails to Machu Picchu
Matthew Teller – BBC, CNN, the Times, the Independent, the Telegraph, High Life, Jazeera, Wanderlust, National Geographic Traveller, Rough Guides
Journey to the Mountain: How marking a historic anniversary at Jordan’s ancient city of Petra turned personal
Gillian Thornton – French Entrée, France Magazine, Living France, Voyage, Woman’s Weekly, The People’s Friend, Hertfordshire Life
France at my Feet: Exploring a lesser-known corner of Europe’s most popular holiday destination
As if that wasn’t enough, after a short break we’ll have a open and hopefully lively panel session moderated by Steven Keenan, where the writers will talk about the realities of travel writing and what is involved in making a living while getting those stories. Some people might think that the job of a travel writer involves little more than a procession of paid holidays.
This session will allow the audience to quiz the panel about the business of being a travel writer and to decide for themselves whether it really is the perfect job.
If you’d like to come along to the session you can reserve your tickets here. Spaces are limited so book now and avoid crushing disappointment.
