Bonus: Unpacking the mission of travel-writing in the 21st century

“One of the miracles of travel writing is to constantly be reminded of how much we don’t know.” – Doug Bock Clark

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Doug discuss how travel writing is defined, and what purposes it serves in the twenty-first century (3:30), the boundaries of travel writing, the nuanced task of trying to humanize people in a travel story, and the future of the form (19:00). Then, Rolf reads his essay, “Why Travel Writing Matters” from the Fall 2017 issue of The Chattahoochee Review (29:00).

Doug Bock Clark (@DougBockClark) is a GQ correspondent and a contributor for the website of The New Yorker. His first book, The Last Whalers, was a New York Times Notable Book for 2019. He also produced the feature documentary Assassins, which premiered at Sundance in January 2020 and was inspired by one of his investigations.

Notable Links:

• The Missionary and the Uncontacted Tribe, by Doug Bock Clark (article)
• Down Myanmar’s Sacred Irrawaddy River, by Doug Bock Clark (article)
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo (book)
• Peter Hessler (writer)
• Storming “The Beach”, by Rolf Potts (essay)
• Making sense of The Beach, 20 years later (podcast episode)
• Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, by Rolf Potts (book)
• William of Rubruck (explorer)
• Siberut (island in Indonesia)
• Andaman Islands (archipelago in the Bay of Bengal)
• Zhang Qian (2nd century BC Chinese envoy)
• The Histories, by Herodotus (ancient travel narrative)
• Orhan Pamuk (Turkish author)
• Why Travel Writing Matters, by Rolf Potts (essay)

This episode of Deviate is brought to you by Santa Fe Writing Workshop, the leading experiential photographic workshop and writers lab in the US. Offering world-renowned professional photographers and Pulitzer Prize winning writers both in the U.S. and abroad, its reputation has been built upon a foundation of creativity and community for individuals of all levels. Prioritizing inspiration and openness to new ideas as much as it does craft, the Santa Fe Writing Workshop establishes itself as an enclave of creativity and education.

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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