ESTWA – Stanfords Blog

Submissions for the 2025 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards Presented by Viking are now OPEN

Launched in 2015, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWA) seek to celebrate the best travel writing and travel writers in the world. For the second year we are partnering with Viking to bring you four awards:

The Covenant of Water, Winner of the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award

Last week at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese won the Viking Fiction with a Sense of Place Award.

Such is the nature of our business, it’s no surprise that often the winning authors are travelling or not based in London so are unable to attend the event. Luckily Abraham’s globe trophy was accepted on behalf of him by his publisher, but he did send these words;

Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2024 In Pictures

The 2024 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in partnership with Viking.

20 March 2024 at Stanfords, Covent Garden.

Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2024 Winners Announced

Many of the world’s greatest travel writers gathered at Stanfords last night to celebrate the ninth Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWAs) presented by Viking, the world’s leading exploration company.

This year 18 books made the shortlists, divided into five awards categories with winners being both debut authors and multi-award-winning writers.

Each award winner was presented with a hand-made globe by Lander & May on the Isle of Wight featuring a design produced exclusively for the awards.

And the winners are…

Explore the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category

Here at Stanfords we get a lot of customers asking for recommendations for fiction set in the place they are planning to go so that they can enjoy some in situ reading. With the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards later on this month, we thought we would take a closer look at the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category. Perhaps something on the list will inspire your next trip.

2023 ESTWA Children’s Book of the Year Shortlist Announced

We are so excited to share the shortlisted books for the Children’s Travel Book of the Year. This category celebrated fiction or non-fiction title for pre-teens which inspires a love of travel, exploration and adventure.

The 2023 Children’s Travel Book of the Year Shortlist:

Bradt Guides 2023 New Travel Writer of the Year Longlist Announced

The world’s best competition for unpublished travel writers. In association with the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.

For over twenty years, the Bradt Guides ‘New Travel Writer of the Year’ competition has been seeking out and championing new writing talent. Previous winners and finalists in the competition have gone on to see their work published in newspapers, travel magazines and books.

Here are the 2023 Longlisted entries:

2023 Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Shortlist Announced

The Shortlist for the 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year has been announced. The award, which was open to authors from all across the world, celebrates excellence in literary travel writing.

Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Shortlist:

The Amur River by Colin Thubron in pictures

Rising in the Mongolian mountains and flowing through Siberia to the Pacific, the Amur River forms the tense border between Russia and China. This is the most densely fortified frontier on Earth.

In his eightieth year, Colin Thubron takes a dramatic and often treacherous journey from the Amur’s secret source to its giant mouth, covering almost 3,000 miles. Harassed by injury and by arrest from the local police, he makes his way along both the Russian and Chinese shores. By the time he reaches the river’s desolate end, a whole, pivotal world has come alive.

To celebrate the paperback launch of the 2022 Stanford Dolman winning The Amur River by Colin Thubron here are some photographs taken on the journey.

2022 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards

Launched in 2015, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWA) seek to celebrate the best travel writing, and travel writers, in the world. Many figures from the travel writing genre gathered at Stanfords London on 3rd March to celebrate.

Vivien Godfrey, Chairman and Chief Executive of Stanfords, said “Travel writing has become even more important in the past two years. Despite not been able to travel as much as we’d like, we’ve been able to see the world through books and are delighted to be able to come together to celebrate the wonderful writing that has flourished out of these challenging times.”

In total 33 books made the shortlists, divided into eight awards categories with winners being both debut authors and award-winning writers. The judging panels included authors Lois Pryce, Jini Reddy, Julia Wheeler, Lucy Popescu, Nicholas Jubber, the MD of Trip Fiction website Tina Hartas, Travel Writing World Podcast’s Jeremy Bassetti, Stanfords booksellers and members of the Stanfords senior team.