Stanfords Blog

World-Class Shortlist Announced for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020

Now in its fifth year, the prestigious Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (ESTWA) exists to champion the very best travel writing in the world. The nominations include both multi-award winning titles and debut authors with books that will both stimulate thought and inspire travel, while bringing lesser-known parts of the world sharply into focus.

The shortlist of 57 books, divided into ten awards categories, will take the reader on a fascinating, and sometimes challenging, voyage into our planet’s past and future, across the seven continents and into hidden corners and unexplored cultures.

Power & the People

We are excited to bring you a little taster of the brilliant new book Power & the People by Alev Scott and Andronike Makres ahead of publication on 14^th November and welcoming them both to Stanfords London for an evening of discussion on Wednesday 13^th November at 7:00pm.

Helping us understand present political issues by exploring the past, this is not to be missed!

Islandeering with Lisa Drewe

In the last fifteen years Lisa Drewe has hiked, biked, run, swum, and kayaked around the outer edge of over 150 of Britain’s islands. Coining the term ‘islandeering’, here she shares her motivation and some favourite routes from her new book.

Stanfords Bristol awarded Harper Collins Literacy Grant

We are very pleased to announce that Stanfords Bristol has been awarded a £2000 grant to fund a literacy project based in the city centre.

Stanfords Bristol is one of ten independent booksellers in the UK to receive funding for a literacy project initiative funded by publishers Harper Collins, who have pledged £20,000 in grants for independent bookshops to help transform the lives of young people through reading as part of its ongoing commitment to The Literacy Project, launched in 2018.

Stanfords Bristol to take part in BA/Egmont Eager Readers Project

We are thrilled to announce that Stanfords Bristol will be one of the bookshops participating in the BA/Egmont Eager Readers project, established earlier this year as part of the Bookseller’s Association Diversity & Inclusivity initiative.

The six-week summer reading project aims to inspire reading for pleasure through allowing children to choose their own books and encouraging parents to read to their child on a daily basis. We’ll be working with a primary school in the city centre to sign up local families with a child between the ages of 7 and 11 who is reluctant to read and with parents who find it difficult to make time to read to their child.

Elsewhere with Rosita Boland

In the last thirty years, Rosita Boland has visited some of the most remote parts of the globe carrying little more than a battered rucksack and a diary. To celebrate the publication of her new book Elsewhere, here she shares with us three offbeat things from her travels.

The weirdest thing I ever saw for sale

I was standing with my rucksack in Florence, waiting for the bus that was going to take me to the hostel. The stop was by a very fancy shop opposite the Dumou, the city’s famous church. You had to ring a bell to go into the shop. I didn’t ring. I knew from looking in the window everything on sale in there was far beyond my budget. Beautiful, handmade leather notebooks. Delicate silver bowls. Hand-blown glass.

Q&A with Dan Richards

Ahead of his event at Stanfords Bristol this week, author Dan Richards discusses his new book Outpost – an exploration of far-flung shelters in mountains, tundra, forests, deserts and oceans – and answers few of our questions.

What books, authors or novels inspired you in writing Outpost? And what are you reading at the moment?

At the moment I’m reading Brian Dillon’s Essayism and Muriel Spark’s The Finishing School. I tend to read several books at once. Also The Pine Barrens by John McPhee; that’s on my bedside table — but Jan Morris, Joan Didion, Rebecca Solnit, and J.A. Baker have taken me on eye-popping journeys into strange lands. Richard Brautigan, Bob Dylan, George Simenon, Lavinia Greenlaw, Mark Doty, David Bowie, Cate Le Bon, T.S Eliot, Denis Johnson, Ted Hughes and Alice Oswald are a never-ending source of indelible images. I try to furnish my books with as much poetry, art, music and literature as possible and all those fed into Outpost.

Europe’s Epic Legacy by Nicolas Jubber

In his latest book Epic Continent, award-winning travel writer Nicholas Jubber takes us on a fascinating adventure through our continent’s most enduring epic poems to learn how they were shaped by their times, and how they have since shaped us. Here he gives us an example of how there are echoes of these tales today:

Canoeing, kayaking and Paddleboarding in the UK

The UK boasts an amazing network of rivers and canals which is ideal if you want to plan a journey on the water. As many people are opting for people powered modes of slow travel, canoeing, kayaking and paddle boarding are on the up. If you are planning on exploring more of the UK sans roads, we have selected some of our favourite guides, maps and accessories to help you take to the water:

Q&A With Robert Macfarlane

Ahead of the release on the 2nd of May, Robert Macfarlane talks about his new book Underland: A Deep Time Journey: