Our Travellers’ World

 

Thirty years ago, when I tutored my first travel writing workshop, every single participant was male. Truth was, travel writing had been a male preserve since Herodotus and Pausanias first put pen to papyrus - with notable exceptions including Freya Stark, Dervla Murphy and Sara Wheeler.

 

High-testosterone explorers paddled to the source of the Limpopo; Paddy Leigh Fermor trekked to Constantinople; Bruce Chatwin followed a dinosaur skin to Patagonia and Paul Theroux caught trains to almost everywhere else. When, in the mid-1990s, the first woman joined one of my annual courses, her contribution electrified the workshop.

 

Today it’s men who are in the minority, often courses featuring none at all. Female artists have long battled convention and defied rejection but now women have given themselves permission to claim at least half of the travel writing world.

 

In planning this year’s Sherborne Travel Writing Festival, my intention wasn’t to draw attention to this remarkable development. My intention has always been to choose the most original, inspirational voices, which is why this year seven out of the 12 speakers are women. Together their spellbinding stories and mind-broadening adventures will transport you to the four corners of the globe. Enjoy!

 

Rory MacLean

Festival Curator