A few years before I started this newsletter, while I was working in journalism but not specifically travel journalism, I attended the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference in Corte Madera, California. The conference is held every August and I highly recommend it, especially for those who are in the earlier stages of exploring travel writing. The well-known faculty members are generous and informative. The chair of the conference is travel writing guru Don George, he’s the former editor in chief of Lonely Planet. This April, Book Passage is sponsoring a 10-day writing workshop on Lake Garda and Don George is the teacher. What an incredible opportunity to learn from a master – and in a heavenly setting!
Also this April – okay clearly all travel writing-related events in Italy are happening in April travel writers Marcus Donner and Amanda Castleman will be teaching a 6-day travel writing course in Rome. Together they have 35 years of experience and their work has appeared in the publications such as the The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler and The Christian Science Monitor. This one is less pricey than the Book Passage option.
And if you already are a professional travel writer, you should absolutely consider attending the Travel Classics conference – this year (in April) it is in Lake Como! The conference is geared towards marketing your work and meeting with editors one-on-one. I think I have attended three times in the past and director Maren Rudolph does an amazing job. If there’s room available when I figure out my 2008 travel schedule, I just might head to Lake Como myself!