Who leads Travel Writing Workshops?
| Tutors | Guest Editors | Guest Writers | |||
Dea Birkett in Georgetown, Malaysia
Dea Birkett is a writer and broadcaster. Her weekly Travelling with Kids column appeared in the Guardian for over five years. She is a regular contributor to the Guardian and BBC Radio 4. Dea is Creative Director of www.manyriversfilms.co.uk, an Emmy-nominated documentary film production company.
She is author of seven books, including Jella. A Woman at Sea in a Man's World (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award), about her voyage on a cargo ship from West Africa; Serpent in Paradise (shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award), about her time on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, home of the few remaining descendents from the mutiny on The Bounty; and Spinsters Abroad. Victorian Lady Explorers ("subtle, acute, fascinating" Sunday Times). She has recently been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Dea has a monthly business travel column, as well as a monthly on-line family travel column on www.takethefamily.com
She has worked with the National Portrait Gallery on Off the Beaten Track. Three Centuries of Women Travellers, producing a book to accompany the exhibition of the same name. She is director of Kids in Museums.
She is Creative Director of Many Rivers Films and co-director of TextWorkshop, running writing courses for museum and gallery professionals.
- www.deabirkett.com
- www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk
- www.manyriversfilms.co.uk
- www.textworkshop.co.uk
- See www.guardian.co.uk for some of Dea's recent articles.
"Thank you Dea. Was a truly terrific workshop. Am literally inspired." Michelle, workshop participantRory Maclean
Rory Maclean in India
Rory MacLean's six books, including best-sellers Stalin's Nose and Under the Dragon, have challenged and invigorated travel writing, and -- according to the late John Fowles -- are among works that 'marvellously explain why literature still lives'. Rory has won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work prize and an Arts Council Writers' Award, was twice shortlisted for the Thomas Cook/Daily Telegraph Travel Book Prize and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In his latest book Magic Bus (BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week) he retraces the Asia Overland hippie trail from Istanbul to India, travelling over five months by local buses through lands of astonishing beauty and hardship transformed since the Summer of Love.
Rory's travel journalism and book reviews appear in the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph and the Guardian, as well as Conde Nast Traveller and Wanderlust. He is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and 4.
Born and educated in Canada, he divides his time between Dorset and Berlin.
"Rory MacLean is one of the most strikingly original and talented travel writers of our generation." author Katie Hickman.
- www.rorymaclean.com
- www.magicbus.info
- For Rory's monthly Guardian columns see www.guardian.co.uk/travel/rorymaclean
"Rory - you are an inspiration! Yes!" Mary, Bloomsbury Travel Writing Workshop participant
"So much of what Rory said struck a chord with me. I came away with ideas about how to incorporate the landscape of Languedoc-Rousillion into the novel I'm writing, how to tackle a problem I've got with the main character, and solving a metaphor. After the workshop the ideas just flowed and I've come home with pages full of them!" Fiona, Workshop participant
"Well, what a guy!" Janice, Workshop participant
The Guest Editors
Ed Grenby, Editor, Sunday Times Travel magazine
Ed Grenby
Recently voted Editor of the Year, Ed was deputy editor of Maxim and travel news editor at the Guardian before joining the Sunday Times Travel magazine as editor, taking it to new successes. A self-styled "lad", he pulls no punches in producing a high quality product with topnotch writers.
Ed lives in London, but his favourite destination is New Zealand.
"Ed was a star. He managed to be brutally honest without being discouraging." Karen, Workshop participant
Frank Barrett, Travel Editor, Mail on Sunday
Frank Barrett at the top of a mountain in Queenstown, New Zealand
Frank Barrett is Travel Editor of Britain’s biggest selling mid-market Sunday newspaper the Mail on Sunday. He was previously Travel Editor of The Independent which he joined at its inception in 1986. He regularly appears on TV and radio in Britain and America broadcasting on the subject of travel and holidays. Among the many publications he has written for are Newsweek and Conde Nast Traveller.
He has written several travel books including, most recently, 'Where Was Wonderland' a best-selling guide to the real-life locations of classic children’s books such as Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden.
He has won several Travel Writer of the Year awards, including the British Press Award for travel feature writing.
"I’ve just finished my article for Frank Barrett. I sent it this morning. Fingers crossed, Frank will not delete my email..."
One day later:
"Frank not only got back to me but also gave me his feedback. I was very touched. I shall do my best at following his tips."
Two weeks later:
"Frank has taken my article and it’s all thanks to the workshop. I am still trying to get over it but after my boyfriend you are the person I contacted!" Alice, Workshop participant
"Just to let you know that Frank published the piece I pitched to him during your workshop. I got a whole page with photos so I'm thrilled. Thanks again for making it all happen." Susannah
Tom Chesshyre, Travel News Editor, The Times
Tom Chesshyre at Machu Picchu
Tom Chesshyre has been writing travel stories for UK national newspapers for 12 years. After reading politics at Bristol University and completing a journalism diploma from City University, he had stints at the Cambridge Evening News, Sporting Life and Sky Sports. During this period he won the Independent's young sports writer of the year competition and was runner-up in the Financial Times young business writer awards. His first travel piece was about England's cricket fans in Barbados for the Daily Telegraph. He freelanced for the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, wrote a column for Conde Nast Traveller, and contributed to the Express, the Guardian, the Independent and the News of the World, before working on the travel desk of the Times. He has assisted with the research on two books - W. G. by Robert Low, a biography of W. G. Grace, and Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist by Colin Smith, a biography of "Carlos the Jackal". He has written magazine pieces for Wanderlust, Geographical and Business Traveller - and contributes book reviews to the TLS. His travel writing has taken him to more than 75 countries. He lives in south-west London and was born in 1971. How Low Can You Go? Round Europe for 1p Return (+ Tax), is his first travel book.
Dan Linstead, Editor, Wanderlust magazine
Dan Linstead on Ko Chang, Thailand
Cambridge graduate Dan Linstead spent his 20s wondering what to do with his English degree, trying out bookselling, advertising and film reviewing in the process. After 18 months travelling in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, he returned to the UK in 2000 to get a proper career, and joined John Brown Publishing as the editor of Orange's pioneering lifestyle magazine, O. In 5 years of customer publishing, he wrote, edited and commissioned a range of travel, celebrity and general lifestyle features for companies including Waitrose, the AA, Honda and Ikea - and won a British Society of Magazine Editors award for O magazine. In 2005, he relaunched and edited bmi's inflight magazine, Voyager, for Redwood Publishing. In 2006, he was appointed editor of Wanderlust, the UK's leading magazine for adventurous travellers.
"Thank you for a most rewarding day. What fun it was as well.....the mix was great - Dea, Rory, Dan and Andy - Fantastic!" Mary, workshop participant
Rose Baring, Publisher, Eland Books
Rose Baring and her family in their campervan in Ireland
"I've always been interested by travel and other languages, other cultures, other ways of looking at things. I've written guidebooks and travel journalism in Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and Russia. Each experience of living abroad has increased my understanding not only of the new country's culture, but also my own."
"After my children were born I set up a publishing company with my husband, Barnaby Rogerson, reprinting classic travel narratives. We later bought the venerable travel publishers Eland. With around 70 travel titles, it's been called 'the ultimate list for travellers and explorers' and 'one of the very best travel lists'. We firmly believe that if travel is to increase respect between cultures, it helps if travellers are well informed."
Andy Cook, Founder and Editor in Chief, takethefamily.com
Andy is the founder of the UK's leading family travel site, www.takethefamily.com, which helps parents plan and book family holidays that last a lifetime. He has travelled extensively with and without kids and believes that you can have a fantastic experience in most destinations with your children as long as you plan properly, compromise a bit and are flexible.
Rhonda Carrier, Commissioning Editor, takethefamily.com
Having entered written and/or edited for most of the big-name travel publishers, including Time Out, Lonely Planet and Frommer's, Rhonda has increasingly specialised in family travel since the appearance of her three sons, now 7, 5 and nearly 2. As well as commissioning and writing for takethefamily, Britain's leading family travel website, Rhonda regularly contributes pieces to the likes of Conde Nast Traveller, The Guardian, The Observer and The French Paper, is the family travel expert for the P&O Ferries website, and has discussed family travel issues on Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
Rhonda is the author of three Frommer's family travel guides - London with Kids, Normandy with Your Family and Brittany with Your Family - and of the forthcoming Rizzoli book In Love in France.
She lives in Manchester but her favourite place is Paris, where she sets much of her awardwinning fiction, which you'll find in collections and anthologies.
Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins has been deputy travel editor of The Observer since 2004. He started out as an investigative news reporter at The Sunday Times, before becoming editor of the paper's Driving section (now called In Gear). Tom specialises in skiing and is the author of White Weekends, a new book about skiing which took him from Arctic Sweden to southern Spain in search of the perfect piste.
Michael Fishwick
Michael Fishwick
Michael Fishwick is the foremost publisher of travel writing in Britain. His authors include William Dalyrymple, Philip Marsden, Eric Newby, Wilfred Thesiger and, most recently, Owen Matthews¹ Stalin's Children which was shortlisted for the Guardian First Work. As Publishing Director of Bloomsbury Publishing, he publishes both non-fiction and fiction. He has written two novels, Smashing People and Sacrifices, both published by Jonathan Cape.
"I really enjoy being a guest editor at the workshop. I feel like I'm doing Dragon's Den!" Michael Fishwick, Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Publishing
The Guest Writers
Fran Sandham
Fran Sandham on Nambia's Skeleton Coast
Fran Sandham was an editor at Rough Guides for several years, and now divides his time between freelance writing, editing and public speaking.
His book Traversa is an account of his epic 3,000-mile solo walk across Africa from the Skeleton Coast to the Indian Ocean. Traversa has gained wide publicity and critical acclaim in the UK and elsewhere, including serialization in the Sunday Times and Travel Africa magazine, with features in the Financial Times, the Irish Examiner, the Scotsman, Daily Mail Online, Adventure Travel, Holland Herald, The South African and a wide variety of travel publications and regional press, plus interviews recently with over thirty national and regional radio stations across the UK including Radio 4’s Excess Baggage programme, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC and BBC London.
Tim Ecott
Tim Ecott in the Cayman Islands
Tim Ecott is a former BBC correspondent and broadcast news producer who resigned in 1998 to write full time. His journalism and travel writing appears in The Economist, The Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Conde Nast Traveller and Wanderlust.
He has written three books: Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World, Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Luscious Substance (Penguin), and Stealing Water: A Secret Life in an African City. He has also written the screenplay for the movie version of the BBC's Blue Planet series (Deep Blue). He is happiest underwater.
Andy Turner
Andy on Dravuni Island, Fiji, eating beans, rice and
chilli sauce - "All we had for 6 weeks!"
Andy Turner is Senior Commissioning Editor at Rough Guides. He has also written travel pieces for the Guardian, Observer and various websites, covering destinations from Denmark to Australia. He helped create Rough Guides' On a Budget series and currently commissions and edits titles covering the more exotic corners of the world from Jerusalem to Tokyo. Still addicted to travel, he has completed two round-the-world trips and dreams of settling down on a small Fijian island.
Catherine Quinn
Catherine Quinn
Catherine is a freelance travel journalist, contributing to Real Travel, EasyJet Magazine, Pefect Wedding, The Guardian, Time Out Guides and many more. In her editorial work she has edited for The Telegraph, worked as Deputy Editor on Fresh Magazine, and currently edits online travel hub www.traverati.com. She has also published a book on freelance writing with Bloomsbury - No Contacts? No Problem! How To Pitch and Sell a Freelance Feature. www.catherinequinn.com and www.thefoodexplorer.co.uk
Send a message to getintouch@travelworkshops.co.uk
Travel Writing Workshops, PO Box 20479, London SE17 3WF, UK