Travel Writing World

Nov 21 2023 80

Travel Writing World Podcast artwork

With an emphasis on non-fiction travel books, books on place, nature writing, and travel literature, host Jeremy Bassetti talks with the world’s most celebrated writers about their work and about the business and craft of travel writing in this award-winning podcast. Past guests include travel writers like Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer, and Rolf Potts. The show also covers topics related to travel journalism and travel photography.

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Thomas Bird – Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China

Nov 21 2023 39 mins

Thomas Bird joins me on the podcast to talk about his book Harmony Express: Travels by Train Through China (Earnshaw Books 2023). We talk about Thomas's new book and his creative journey, the development and history of China's rail network, freelance writing in China in the early 2000s, China's diversity, his advice for "writing for the ages," and more. Purchase Harm

Thomas Swick – Falling Into Place: A Story of Love, Poland, and the Making of a Travel Writer

Nov 16 2023 31 mins

Thomas Swick joins me on the podcast to talk about his book Falling Into Place: A Story of Love, Poland, and the Making of a Travel Writer (Rowman & Littlefield 2023). Thomas and I chat about Tom’s creative journey, his time in Poland, the evolution of the travel writer as an occupation, the importance of having life experiences for writers, and a lot more.

Jeremy Bassetti Speaks with Ryan Murdock about “The Hill of the Skull”

Oct 11 2023 53 mins

Toady I’m bringing you a conversation I had with Ryan Murdock for his Personal Landscapes Podcast. He was kind enough to not only chat with me about my book The Hill of the Skull on his podcast, but let me re-broadcast a the conversation here on Travel Writing World. We talk about sacred mountains, anthropology, Bolivia, globalization, pilgrimage, and other topics. If

“The Hill of the Skull” Book Launch on Kickstarter

Sep 25 2023 2 mins

A quick update to announce my new photobook memoir The Hill of the Skull launches today on Kickstarter. The campaign runs from September 25 until October 26, 2023. The book features a 7,000-word memoir, around 50 photographs, an afterword by celebrated author Pico Iyer, and a behind-the-scenes dialogue I had with the award-winning British photographer Alys Tomlinson.

Tom Parfitt – High Caucasus

Jul 19 2023 27 mins

Tom Parfitt joins me on the podcast to talk about his book High Caucasus (Headline 2023). Tom and I have a sober conversation about the 2004 Beslan School Massacre, his reporting in Russia, and his 1,000-mile walk across the Caucasus in southern Russia. I also ask Tom about Ukraine, and his commonly held assumptions or ideas about the people of the Caucasus. Purchase

Jeff Biggers – In Sardinia

Jun 21 2023 35 mins

Jeff Biggers joins me on the podcast today, and we’re talking about his new book In Sardinia: An Unexpected Journey in Italy, which is as much a cultural history of the island as it is a travel book. In this wide-reaching conversation, we talk about D. H. Lawrence and the travel literature about the island, Sardinia’s ancient history, a few environmental protection

Tim Hannigan – The Granite Kingdom

May 10 2023 34 mins

Tim Hannigan is back on the Travel Writing World podcast, this time to talk about his new book The Granite Kingdom: A Cornish Journey, which is a literary and literal journey through Cornwall. In addition to Cornwall’s culture and geography, Tim and I also chat about re-centering maps, identity, walking, slow travel, the Tamar River, the Tim Hannigan method of outlin

Leon McCarron – Wounded Tigris

Apr 05 2023 35 mins

Leon McCarron joins me today, and we’re talking about his new book Wounded Tigris: A River Journey through the Cradle of Civilisation (available in the UK on 6 April 2023 and in the USA from 7 November 2023). Leon is an author of several travel books, including The Land Beyond: A Thousand Miles on Foot through the Heart of the Middle East and The Road Headed West.

Announcing “The Hill of the Skull”

Feb 20 2023 3 mins

Hello, everyone. This is episode 101 of the Travel Writing World podcast, and it will be a short one. In the introduction to episode 99, my recent interview with Pico Iyer, I mentioned that I am taking a break from my normal, fortnightly schedule of interviews in 2023 to focus on a few projects. Well, today I want to announce one of those projects — it is a

J.F. Penn – Pilgrimage and Perspective

Jan 23 2023 30 mins

J.F. Penn joins me today, and we’re talking about her new book Pilgrimage. Joanna is an author of many fiction and non-fiction books, and the host of several podcasts including The Creative Penn Podcast for writers and the Books and Travel podcast. In addition to talking about her new book Pilgrimage, we also talk about voice in writing and creative work, pilgrima