Travel writing is transforming. We’re finally seeing narratives questioning the environmental and human impact of tourism and hearing from those who’ve been shut out for centuries—global majority, queer, and disabled voices. But publishing still privileges leisure travel, and narratives perpetuate imperialistic language and imagery.

Led by award-winning travel writer Faith Adiele, this course invites us to develop our “craft” while updating the genre to challenge Western fantasies of travel as freedom and discovery, include involuntary travelers and native hosts, and reject acquisitional impulses.

Over the five sessions of this course, we’ll turn to experts in the field and learn from conversations with guest speakers Bani Amor, Pier Nirandara, Carey Baraka, and Noo Saro-Wiwa. We will discuss:

• key components of literary travel writing like voice and identity when writing as insiders and/or outsiders

• creating characters while writing about others vs. The Other

• using the senses and research to write about place, especially…