Introduction from the Editors - Issue 16
Hinterland editors Andrew and Yin introduce the Journeys special.
When we first conceived of the idea of ‘journeys’ as this issue’s theme, we wanted to feature creative non-fiction that would redefine travel writing. So we challenged writers to surprise us with their journeys through places, spaces and time. We were not disappointed. Our special issue open call attracted submissions that interpreted the theme in myriad ways.
The writing that caught our attention however, were those stories that captured journeys of discovery within even as the authors travelled to physical locations. From recollections of earlier lives to interrogations of one’s place in the world, each piece in this issue has its own distinct voice in balancing artfulness and authenticity. Published together, they prompt us to rethink what it means to write about travel and place.
Amidst despoliation and climate change on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, Jean McNeil considers her enchantment with place writing while grappling with her own place in a part of the world she has frequented for over a decade. Time also features prominently in Karen Kao’s search for belonging in the graffiti tags she finds in the many cities she has called home.
Work can take us on unexpected journeys too. Homera Cheema’s aid sector career brings her close to her ancestral home in Pakistan, prompting reflections about identity and carrying a romantic history of a place within oneself. As the only foreign reporter working with an Indian national newspaper, Evelyn Fok challenges prejudice and isolation in Bengaluru and Kolkata even as she seeks a sense of home in their Chinese communities.
Travelling off the beaten track takes on unique perspectives in Frank Light’s reminiscence about 1960s Afghanistan at the end of a tour with the Peace Corps, and in Elizabeth Lewis Williams’ rumination over the idea of arrival as she follows in her father’s footsteps to the Antarctic. While Sam Pyrah’s solo walk across Devon becomes a journey of overcoming fear as well as embracing the sense of freedom that comes with menopause.
In our Ekphrasis feature, Anna Evans explores the idea of borderlands as she writes through the lens of the images and stories encountered during her travels around the France and Spain border. Short but no less powerful are our curated pieces of flash non-fiction: Robert Butroyd’s discovery of Bradford’s literary tradition and its root in migration, Daniel Rabuzzi’s lyrical remembrance of post-Cold-War Berlin, and Alexis Keir’s Sheffield-Leeds train journey that takes him from a place of belonging and ease to one of hurt, loss and isolation.
We hope the creative non-fiction in this special issue will take you on journeys of your own through place, time and memory.
The latest issue of Hinterland, Issue 16, is available to preorder now direct from our webstore.