What is happening in the travel writing genre? Doesn’t it seem today like there
are a LOT of travel writers out there? More than there were, say, ten years ago when books by Paul Theroux and Tim
Cahill seemed to dominate the shelves at Barnes and Noble? I went to BN at Union Square the other day and was
blown away by all the new titles. I may be wrong, but the genre seems to be undergoing something of a Renaissance,
which is great news for those of us who are trying to ply the trade.
Well, if you are an aspiring travel writer or just a writer who’s interested in how the best writers out there do
what they do, then there’s a new book out worth reading. Michael
Shapiro of Nettravel fame has put together an excellent series of interview with some of the best travel writers
alive today. Called A Sense of
Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives and Inspiration, the book features interviews with travel
writing luminaries such as Jan Morris, Tim Cahill, Frances Mayes, Peter Matthiessen, Pico Iyer and Bill
Bryson.