ExpatWomen:Lucy, this is the third year that Traveler's Tales have released a best-of book of women's travel writing. You've edited all of them. Why has this series been so popular and what makes this year's selection different from previous years?
Lucy: I'm interested in learning about how other women move in the world, how they navigate through the challenges and vulnerabilities they may face traveling, for example as a woman alone, or with children, or an ageing parent. I think that may be one reason people buy and read the book, for both the insights and practical experience these stories illuminate for other adventurous souls as well as for armchair travelers.
In this year's selections I found a common theme threading through many stories that had to do with the idea of “return”—whether it was a return to an actual physical place on the map, or to some lost part of the writer's self, for example. When I read through my final selections, I found myself asking: Why do we return to places where we've been before? This year's book answers that question in a variety of engaging ways.
ExpatWomen:Can you share with us some of the story highlights this year and/or some of your personal favorites?
Lucy: I love them all— that's why I chose them! There's such a range of voices and stories that it's truly impossible to pick just a few favorites. But I guess I can say I hope you won't miss Carmen Semler's The Tree, for it's poignancy; Kayla Allen's Flirting in Paris, for its hilarity; and for its sheer sense of adventure, Barbara Brown's story about her 10,000-mile quest one summer to slide through America's major water-parks with her ten-year-old daughter.
ExpatWomen:Thirty-two stories made the final cut. How many stories do you receive each year and what criteria do you use to select the winning stories?
Lucy: I read about 350 to 400 stories each year, when you consider all the essays that Travelers' Tales/Solas House receives through its website solicitation and submissions for its yearly Solas Awards, plus the previously published magazine stories and book excerpts that I consider. I try to choose essays with a strong narrative arc and voice, and that tell a clear and engaging story in which something interesting happens to the author. Beyond that, I try to include a wide range of voices and travel destinations, and create a mix of stories throughout the book—humor, solo travel, spiritual travel, adventure.
ExpatWomen:We know that we have many budding (and also some established) writers in our audience. How can women submit their stories for publications such as this one, and what words of advice would you offer to help guide them on their way?
Lucy: Submit stories for all Travelers' Tales/Solas House books to submit@travelerstales.com. Check our website for deadlines for specific books, but the Travelers' Tales founding editors usually will consider all submissions for several different books, unless the author specifies otherwise. Generally the deadline for Best Women's Travel Writing is around the end of June of each year.
I really want to encourage people to send their stories, especially young or new writers since we read and consider every submission. Sometimes I'll work with an author if she has a terrific story that just needs a bit of development. But previously published submissions are welcome as well. Stories should have a strong narrative arc and voice. Don't send travel journals or anything that reads more like an itinerary or a letter home than a story. Personally I often resonate with stories that have a spiritual or pilgrimage/quest element in them. The one kind of story I don't see enough of is humor. It's hard to do well, but if you can pull it off, I really welcome that kind of submission.
ExpatWomen:Your own travel essays have appeared in such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times, Fast Company Magazine, Harvard Review, Science & Spirit, and Salon.com. Can you please share with us some of the places that you have travelled to and why those locations were special to you?
Lucy: I speak Spanish so I've tended to travel a lot through Latin America and Spain. Guatemala has been particularly rich for me because my grandparents lived there for more than twenty years and my mother grew up there. But Spain too has been a place where I've felt an almost visceral connection. When I first landed in Sevilla as a college student, I felt I'd come “home” somehow. But I've also traveled through Morocco, Turkey, Europe and Eastern Europe, and I've connected deeply with those places as well, each in different ways.
ExpatWomen:If you could live abroad anywhere in the world, where that would be and why?
Lucy: I can't pick just one! I'm a traveler, after all. But it happens that my family and I are about to move to Germany for six months (in 2008), so perhaps I'll fall in love with that country. Ideally I'd find a way to move regularly among the cities of Madrid, Florence, Prague, and Boston. In all of those places I've felt drawn to the people, culture, architecture, and arts in some way, and I appreciate the fact that they have decent, well-used public transportation systems. They also all contain some quality of light, a scent in the air that inspires me and makes me feel alive inside, fully present in the moment.
ExpatWomen:Thank you very much Lucy. Our warmest wishes for the ongoing success of this great series – and for all of your own writing and travel.
