Are you travelling this summer? Are you a woman or do you know one? (That should cover everyone) because if you are, this is the anthology for you (or your female friend) to take as a travel companion. I first learned of this Best Women's Travel Writing anthology a few years ago when I traveled on my own to Bosnia. I needed a book to help me feel brave in the face of endless buses and train rides. There were no essays written on Bosnia or Slovenia, but that didn't matter. I knew a woman traveling alone in the world was not as weird as all that -- and that I now had found solid proof of women travelers exploring, loving, and writing about new worlds.
I wrote Blue Gates as a way to remember my time living in Zinder, Niger as a twenty-something Peace Corps Volunteer.I tried to evoke the slow-winding rhythm of my days and the lovely strangeness that surrounded me. For example, the attractive man pictured above is a Fulani nomad. The Fulani believe fully in the expression of male beauty. Mascara plays a key part in a young man's life as does the make-up that accents his nose and cheekbones. The young men in my story: Dari, Sa-a, and Yabide are all Fulani pre-teens - their coming of age rituals still ahead of them.
I'll be reading with local writer Sara Barnum and Jocelyn Edelstein. It would be lovely to see you there!
From Elliott Bay Book's website where you should visit and buy books --- any books!
06/22/2011 7:00 pm
If travel is on your mind, consider joining us for what will be a lively evening of storytelling about the discoveries, misadventures, and epiphanies of the road trip (and of writing about it). Best Women's Travel Writing 2011 (Travelers' Tales), edited by Lavinia Spalding, is the seventh installment in an enjoyable, award-winning series. Local contributors Sara Bathum, Susan Rich, and Jocelyn Edelstein will read from their work, and weigh in on the many reasons why we embark on these journeys.
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