Finalists in the Bradt/Ios Travel-Writing Competition 2011
And the winners are...
20 July 2011
Congratulations to Simon Duncan and Dawn Curtis.
The Disappearing Beach was voted best entry overall. Simon wins a trip to Turkey courtesy of Anatolian Sky Holidays and the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office. He also wins a commission from the Independent on Sunday.
Unpublished entrant, Dawn Curtis, wrote The Art of Stillness. Dawn wins a place on an overseas travel-writing course through Travellers’ Tales.
Awards night, from left to right: Jonathan Lorie, Hilary Bradt, Dawn Curtis, Simon Duncan and Matthew Parris.
The travel-writing competition awards evening
Hilary Bradt, 21 July 2011
The weather always manages to put an extra spin on our much-anticipated awards evening at Stanfords travel bookshop. Usually it is boiling hot, so that everyone stands there dripping. This time there was a monsoon-style rainstorm just when the final guests – and judges – were arriving. So everyone stood there dripping. Matthew Parris, who walked from his home by the Thames without any rain protection, arrived soaked to the skin and at least one guest purchased some classy traveller’s trousers to replace his sodden ones (Stanfords doesn’t only sell books). Given that the theme of the competition this year was ‘Up the Creek’ the weather seemed particularly appropriate.
After I had introduced Joanna Marsh, the representative from the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office, and Kate Simon from the Independent on Sunday, Matthew Parris commended all the finalists for their pieces and read out his favourite passages from each. Simon Duncan wins a holiday in Turkey – and the latest Bradt guide to eastern Turkey – and a commission from the Independent on Sunday, as well as having his winning article published on July 31.
Simon is an unpublished writer, so Jonathan Lorie selected the unpublished runner up who wins a place on one of Jon’s Travellers’ Tales travel-writing courses. This went to Dawn Curtis.
Before he left, Matthew was presented with a wire-mesh llama I made as a thank you for his encouragement to budding writers and for supporting this event over several years (for those who don’t know, Matthew keeps several llamas at his Derbyshire home).
And if you are an aspiring travel writer looking for advice from top editors and journalists sign up for our travel-writing course this September in London.
Selecting the finalists in the Bradt/IoS travel-writing competition
12 July 2011 Hilary Bradt
As always, the selection of six entries to go to the final judge, Matthew Parris, was a lively affair. Five judges, five different opinions, but also accord as to what makes a compelling piece of travel writing. The finalists in the 2011 Bradt/IoS travel-writing competition are:
The Art of Stillness by Dawn Curtis
In the Holy City of Sanliurfa by Eithne Nightingale
Goodnight Afghanistan by Helen Watson
The Disappearing Beach by Simon Duncan
Summer in the Valley by Sylvia Dubery
Searching for Mermaids by Elizabeth Cleere
It’s tough choosing only six; each of us had particular favourites, so all the short-listed entrants should be pretty pleased with themselves.
There were 23 entries that reached the competition long-list.
Narrowing down the Bradt/IoS travel-writing competition long-list
6 July 2011 Hilary Bradt
The theme for this year's travel-writing competition was ‘Up the Creek’ (to chime with the new edition of the book by John Harrison, originally published in 1986). Writers were invited to follow the theme literally or metaphorically and this produced some inventive and very exciting entries; it was the most enjoyable preliminary judging that I can remember.
The three Bradt judges have agreed on a short list of 23 entries, and later this week we will be joined by Jon Lorie of Travellers’ Tales and Kate Simon of the Independent on Sunday to decide on the six finalists. It’s always a lively occasion, as we each extol the virtues of our favourites, with a final reading out loud to help us select the very best of these excellent pieces of travel writing.
The finalists will be notified of their success by phone, when they will be invited to attend the Awards Evening at Stanfords travel bookshop when Matthew Parris will reveal his choice of winner.
Full details of the travel-writing competition
Prizes
The first prize is an exciting holiday for two, the chance to get your winning travel article published in The Independent on Sunday's travel pages, and a commission from the newspaper for a later article from your prize trip.
The holiday for two to eastern Turkey has been generously donated by Turkish specialist operator, Anatolian Sky Holidays, in conjunction with the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office. The small group tour departs in September 2011 or May 2012. You can choose from two seven night itineraries: the south eastern Anatolian tour takes in the monumental stone heads of Mount Nemrut, the mosaics of Zeugma, the lake of sacred carp at Sanliurfa and Lake Van;
the north eastern tour starts at Lake Van and includes visits to the 17th century palace of Ishak Pasha and the ancient city of Ani before reaching the mountainous Black Sea coast with its mystical monasteries. Transport is in an air-conditioned minibus with an experienced professional English-speaking guide, and entrance to historic sites is included. Accommodation is in 3 or 4 star standard hotels on half board basis and lunch is provided. Flights from the UK are with the scheduled services of Turkish Airlines. Since the tours only operate on set dates, there is an alternative of a tailor-made holiday to eastern Turkey for the same value. Terms and conditions apply.
To encourage new writers, the competition includes a prize specifically for those who have not previously been published – a place on a writing weekend overseas provided by top travel writing training agency, Travellers’ Tales.
There are two categories in the competition: one for "Published" writers and one for "Unpublished" writers. To be eligible to submit an entry in the "Unpublished" category you must never have been paid for any piece of writing that has appeared in print or on the internet.
Open to UK residents only. One entry per person is permitted. Joint entries are not allowed.
Please see our full competition rules.
Competition judges
The competition judges are Hilary Bradt, Donald Greig and Adrian Phillips of Bradt Travel Guides, Jonathan Lorie of Travellers' Tales, and Kate Simon, travel editor of The Independent on Sunday. The final winners will be selected by journalist Matthew Parris and announced at a prize-giving ceremony at Stanford's in London on 20 July.