bradt travel writing competition 2023

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Best Travel Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 9 contests that match your search.

Solas Awards

Best Travel Writing

Genres: Essay, Non-fiction, and Travel

Extraordinary stories about travel and the human spirit have been the cornerstones of our books since 1993. With the Solas Awards we honor writers whose work inspires others to explore. We’re looking for the best stories about travel and the world. Funny, illuminating, adventurous, uplifting, scary, inspiring, poignant stories that reflect the unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. We hope these awards will be a catalyst for those who love to leave home and tell others about it.

Additional prizes:

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: September 21, 2024

Global Experience Travel Writing Contest

Genres: Travel

Have you been marked by travel? If so, tell us how. Engaging with the genre of creative nonfiction, seize upon memorable incidents from your travel history — study abroad, domestic travels, even your discovery of Northfield. Entertain us. Make us laugh. Move us. Help us travel with you.

📅 Deadline: April 07, 2024 (Expired)

Anthology Travel Writing Competition 2024

Anthology Magazine

The Anthology Travel Writing Competition is open to original and previously unpublished travel articles in the English language by writers of any nationality, living anywhere in the world. We are looking for an engaging article that will capture the reader’s attention, conveying a strong sense of the destination and the local culture. Max 1000 words.

💰 Entry fee: $16

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2024

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Travel Writing Award

Ottawa Tourism

Ottawa Tourism offers an annual $500 CAD prize for outstanding travel writing featuring Canada’s Capital Region. Eligible entries include items in English or in French that have appeared in magazines, newspapers, or online media in 2023 that highlight Ottawa as a travel destination.

📅 Deadline: February 02, 2024 (Expired)

Fiction Factory Short Story Competition

Fiction Factory

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Travel

Length of story: max 3,000 words. Entries should be as a Word document. All types of stories are welcome (excluding Children’s and Young Adult Fiction). Entry Fee: £7.00 (£13 for 2 stories, £18 for 3 stories) Winning stories will be published on this website and, at a later date in a planned anthology.

Publication on website

💰 Entry fee: $7

📅 Deadline: July 31, 2024

New Deal Writing Competition

New Deal Museum

Genres: Christian, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Travel

GVCA is excited to announce the ninth annual New Deal Writing Competition! This competition challenges writers to use a painting chosen by the staff at GVCA as inspiration for a short story. This year’s painting is “Playtime” by Fred Ross.

Publication in newsletter

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

Irene Adler Prize

Lucas Ackroyd

I’ve traveled the world from Sweden to South Africa, from the Golden Globes to the Olympic women’s hockey finals. I’ve photographed a mother polar bear and her cubs and profiled stars like ABBA, Jennifer Garner and Katarina Witt. And I couldn’t have done it without women. I’ve been very fortunate, and it’s time for me to give back. With the Irene Adler Prize, I’m awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a woman pursuing a degree in journalism, creative writing, or literature at a recognized post-secondary institution.

2x honorable mentions: $250

📅 Deadline: May 30, 2024 (Expired)

Crossings Travel Writing Competition

Intrepid Times

Genres: Non-fiction, Short Story, and Travel

Write an original, factual, first-person travel story that centers on a crossing of some kind. Your travel story should, as always, grow around the context of a place or experience; we want to see the theme being used in a way that enhances both. Editors will be looking for originality, voice, and a satisfying story arc that captures attention and makes use of imagery to pull the reader along at every step.

Publication in Intrepid Times

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024 (Expired)

100 Word Writing Contest

Tadpole Press

Genres: Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult, Children's, Poetry, Romance, Short Story, Suspense, and Travel

Can you write a story using 100 words or less? Pieces will be judged on creativity, uniqueness, and how the story captures a new angle, breaks through stereotypes, and expands our beliefs about what's possible or unexpectedly delights us. In addition, we are looking for writing that is clever or unique, inspires us, and crafts a compelling and complete story. The first-place prize has doubled to $2,000 USD.

2nd: writing coach package

💰 Entry fee: $15

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests. 

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course : How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether. 

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

• "How to Craft a Killer Short Story" ( Click here )
• "The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Novel" ( Click here )
• "Understanding Point of View" ( Click here )
• "Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love" ( Click here )
• "Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character" ( Click here )
• "Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine" ( Click here )

On Editing:

• "Story Editing for Authors" ( Click here )
• "How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro" ( Click here )
• "Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Novel: Steps From a Bestselling Writer" ( Click here )
• "How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps" ( Click here )
• "100 Literary Devices With Examples: The Ultimate List" ( Click here )
• "20 Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft" ( Click here )
• "How to Write Fabulous Dialogue [9 Tips + Examples]" ( Click here )
• "8 Character Development Exercises to Write 3D Characters" ( Click here )

Bonus resources

• 200+ Short Story Ideas ( Click here )
• 600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You ( Click here )
• 100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors ( Click here )
• Story Title Generator ( Click here )
• Pen Name Generator ( Click here )
• Character Name Generator ( Click here )

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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RUTH MILLINGTON

Award-winning author & travel writer, podcaster, adventurer, motivational speaker.

LONGLISTED FOR BRADT GUIDES, NEW TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION 2023

ruthmillington

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Dec 10, 2022

LONGLISTED FOR BRADT GUIDES, NEW TRAVEL WRITER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION 2023

I woke up yesterday morning to the fantastic news that I had been longlisted for the Bradt Guides, New Travel Writer of the Year Competition 2023 in conjunction with Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.

Bradt Guides are the world’s leading independent travel publisher. I’ve always loved their guides, so I nearly fell off my chair when I received the news. I’ve also been a close follower of the Edward Stanford awards. Some of my favourite travel writers have been recipients. Stanfords were involved in the judging of the Bradt Guides competition, making another dream of mine come true. I’m crossing every digit that I get to the next round!

I’ve had a challenging time this past year with my work as a writer so this couldn’t come at a better time. I nearly didn’t enter the competition as I wasn’t sure my piece was right and it took a long time to redraft and adapt it. I was also reeling from having partied ways with my literary agent. We weren’t quite right for each other, and it was time to move on. But splitting up from a business relationship isn’t dissimilar to a divorce even in our case where it was amicable. It can take a while to find your feet, rebuild your confidence and get back in the game.

If you are a writer reading this or know someone that is, I can’t stress how important it is to never give up and to keep believing in yourself and your work, even if the odds seem stacked against you.

I’m off for a hot bath, a glass of wine and to plan my next trip!

You can read my entry here:

New Travel Writer of the Year 2023: longlisted entries

P.s Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe to my blog, and to follow me on social media!

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Travel writing prize: Bradt Guides New Travel Writer of the Year competition 2021

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The Travel Writer's Way: Turn Your Travels into Stories (Bradt Travel Guide) Paperback – May 7, 2019

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 320 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Bradt Travel Guides
• Publication date May 7, 2019
• Dimensions 5.35 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 1784776041
• ISBN-13 978-1784776046
• See all details

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About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bradt Travel Guides (May 7, 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1784776041
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1784776046
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.35 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
• #332 in General Travel Reference
• #492 in Travel Writing Reference
• #876 in Travelogues & Travel Essays

About the author

Jonathan lorie.

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Perceptive Travel

Perceptive travel book reviews may 2022 by susan griffith, in this issue: a diverting miscellany of short well-honed travelers' tales from around the world, a collection of encounters with nature around britain by a gifted writer and ecologist, and a grueling long walk in west africa in an attempt to discover what matters..

Travel Write: Select entries from 20 years of the Bradt Travel-writing Competition Edited by Celia Dillow

What's not to like about an anthology of nearly 100 well-crafted 800-word travel stories? Compression is the key, and most contributors not only narrate an episode from their travels but convey a feeling. In the best pieces, the emotion is just as important as the content: in the dignified decay of Havana, the humbling hospitality of Bedouins, nostalgia for idyllic childhood holidays in Wales or nostalgia for a Sardinian coastline before it was turned into the ritzy Costa Smeralda.

A pioneer in guidebook publishing in the 1970s, Bradt Guides is a deserving survivor. For the past 26 years, it has sponsored a travel writing competition with changing themes, from "Taking the Road Less Traveled" (2006) to "I'd Love to Go Back" (2021 — predictably). Entries must be true first-hand accounts based on personal experience. Inevitably some are more skillfully written than others. Occasionally some try a little too hard—an Egyptian desert that "could have been a meringue cake made by gods" —but most are captivating from the first to the last paragraph.

The editor has grouped the stories under various headings. There are dangers averted in "Thrills & Chills" including altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro, a pickpocket in Hue, Vietnam, and a rogue taxi driver and his gang in Syria. In the longest section "Meet and Greet," we read of encounters with locals, some of which humorously thwart expectations. For example, at the end of a musical evening of yoiking (unaccompanied yodeling-cum-chanting) in the Arctic, it is revealed that the performances which the writer has been tolerating between gritted teeth were not by the local Sami people of Lapland as he had assumed but by two SAS pilots on vacation.

A fun challenge might be to pause and reflect on which travel tale you would tell, on a theme such as "Up the creek." (Mine might be the time I was stranded at a logging camp near the River Rajang in Sarawak when the rains had made the dirt roads impassable.) Or "If Only I'd Known" —in my case, that Calais was only 60 miles from Ostend when I disembarked from the Channel ferry at the wrong port and took the foolish decision to hitchhike to Paris to try to catch up with my train to the Alps.

If you want to hone your story and submit it, the deadline for the 2023 competition is likely to be this November. In the meantime you can read the articles by the 2022 winners and runners-up on the theme "It was strangely quiet" at this link.

Paperback, 322 pages.

The View from the Hill: Four Seasons in a Walker's Britain By Christopher Somerville

We are presented here with another compendium of short pieces of less than 800 words, also unearthed from the archive during Covid. For readers whose attention span has diminished during the pandemic, these self-contained bursts of British nature and landscape are appealing. It is exhilarating to zigzag all over the British Isles, from the mysterious spit of land at Orford Ness on the east coast, once a secret MOD experimental military test site, to the coal-mining valleys of South Wales.

A meditation on the no-nonsense toughness of drovers might precede a piece about his no-nonsense father's attitude to walking gear; a Victorian tale about a Maharajah's elephant being walked from Edinburgh to Manchester, might follow reminiscences of childhood holidays in Cornwall. The range and variety are boundless.

Somerville is a superb writer—conversational and wry, but also evocative and informative. Puffins are as "tubby and fussy as commuters late for the train." I loved his riffs on Flora & Fauna, the twins he's been dating, and the love life of the rare natterjack toads. He relishes odd place names and patiently trawled an old Gazetteer to compile a tour-de-force list in rhyme of little-known places:..."Bawdy Craig, Randy Pike, Nudge Hill, The Wink,/ Stiff Street, The Risings, Soften and Sink").

He is just as interested in people as in words and birds. A guide who accompanies him into the Monadhliath Mountains ("one of the most accessible but least frequented mountain ranges in Scotland) reminds him of Sherlock Holmes for his uncanny ability to track clues. I suspect that the author's success in seeing some of the UK's rarest creatures comes from his willingness to get up really early. Although he admits to questioning his sanity when hauling himself out of bed in the dead of night to go walking in the dark, he is rewarded with "one of the major thrills of anyone's year" (this just 36 miles from central London): "There is nothing remotely like the experience of hearing the dawn chorus in full strength and at close quarters especially when you are sitting on a beech bough, the only walker in the whole wide wood." His enthusiasm is contagious, though I confess I have never mastered the trick of setting off before 4am.

He never resorts to generalizations, but always particularizes. When in search of the bellowing of rutting deer in the autumn, he finally hears "a deeper and gruffer moan that ended in a hollow retching sound, better suited to Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night than the wild west coast of a Hebridean isle." This description would be meaningless unless you know that the street mentioned is a center for Glasgow's nightlife. I fear that readers unfamiliar with British geography, who can't place the Northumberland coast, the Mendip Hills or the South Downs, might find themselves somewhat lost.

But if you do have an interest in the great outdoors and cherish one of Britain's greatest national treasures, namely its 140,000 miles of public footpaths, you are guaranteed to enjoy this book, which promotes "slow-walking" rather than "yomping and stomping."

Hardback. No maps or illustrations. 392 pages.

Waypoints: A Journey on Foot By Robert Martineau

Tellingly, the title provides no clue to the geographical location of the journey. Because this book is more about an inner journey, the walk might have taken place in any of the other remote parts of the world the author considered such as Patagonia, Ethiopia or the Euphrates Basin. In fact the author followed a 1000-mile horseshoe-shaped route from Accra on the coast of Ghana, deep into northern Ghana, returning to the Bight of Benin through Togo and Benin.

When planning this expedition, the author feels an urgent need to leave behind his uninspiring life as a London lawyer where he feels overwhelmed by inertia in the face of too much external stimulation and choice. He wants to walk away from his comfortable surroundings, distractions, fast food diet and the addictive blandishments of contemporary urban life. Eventually we learn that he has been an ultra-marathon runner and therefore no stranger to physical suffering—of which there is plenty on this journey.

The prose is honest. He acknowledges that his fantasies about walking long distances alone in remote West Africa betrayed "all the naivety of a young Western man." He was 27 when he did the walk, and in his early 30s when he returned to his notes to write the book. In the desert village of Pigu he meets the chief's son who believes that Europe, Dubai and America are utopias, which makes him realize that his fantasies about a pilgrimage in the remote wilds of Africa being able to bring freedom and resolve problems are just as misguided.

We learn early on that his father died when the author was barely five years old and that he has always grappled with a well of unresolved sadness. In some ways he is trying to recover a child-like version of adventure, uncontaminated by adult turbulence, which may be why he favors short evocative sentences in the present tense, "I want shade. My head throbs." or "The mud is dry here, the colour of rust. Stray dogs rest beneath the trees. Old men sit on chairs beside them. Reeds rise from the shallows. Children wheel bicycles into the lake to wash away the dust."

But the narration of his trek is constantly interrupted by tangents and digressions. A chapter might begin cryptically "It's like crossing the Ohio River to Dixie, the monk said" and the reader must patiently wait for the relevance, which will emerge. A lot of the digressions and stories are about madness and incarceration, cruelty and death.

He acknowledges by name 14 people who helped him on his journey including those who rescued him on the two occasions he collapses from exhaustion. Yet we get no reported dialogue and little sense of their characters. This is a book about the healing properties of solitude and simplicity, in which anecdotes about local encounters and humor have no place.

The introspection and self-analysis are leavened by information about the anthropology and history of the countries through which he passes. Judging from the daunting 22-page bibliography, the information is well researched.

Whereas Somerville's walk descriptions make me want to reach for my hiking boots and a map, this book makes me more grateful than ever of a comfy armchair, a pleasant ambient temperature, and a tranquil psyche.

Hardback. With a few sketch maps. 258 pages.

Susan Griffith is a Canadian travel writer and editor based in Cambridge England, who writes books and articles for adventurous working travelers. Starting with the classic Work Your Way Around the World and Teaching English Abroad , she has also turned her attention to gap years and has written definitive guides for the young and the not-so-young: Your Gap Year and Gap Years for Grown-ups. She also contributes hotel reviews to the Daily Telegraph, a British daily newspaper.

See the last round of book reviews from Susan Griffith

• Beloved Objects That Hold Our Travel Memories by Jeff Greenwald
• Poison Ivy and Pitcher Plants: Paddling Kejimkujik National Park by Tony Robinson-Smith
• Hitting the Brakes in Western Pennsylvania by David Lee Drotar
• Going with the Flow on the Pacific Coast Highway by Heidi Siefkas

Buy Travel Write: Select entries from 20 years of the Bradt Travel-writing Competition at your local bookstore, or get it online here: Buy on Amazon Amazon UK Amazon Canada Kobo Books

Buy The View from the Hill: Four Seasons in a Walker's Britain at your local bookstore, or get it online here: Buy on Amazon Amazon UK Amazon Canada

Buy Waypoints: A Journey on Foot at your local bookstore, or get it online here: Buy on Amazon Amazon UK Amazon Canada

Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2023 Shortlists & Winners

The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2023 shortlist was announced on December 9 via Twitter. The winners were first announced via Instagram stories.

This year, Stanfords decided to scale back on its awards. Missing in 2023 are Fiction with a Sense of Place, Food and Drink Travel Book of the Year, Photographic Travel Book of the Year, and Illustrated Travel Book of the Year.

Award recipients were announced at an event at Stanfords in Covent Garden on March 16, 2023. Their names are highlighted in bold below.

As reported by Michael Kerr , the “Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year” is now the “Stanford Travel Book of the Year.” Rev. William Dolman is unable to finance the award and it is not clear if the Author’s Club is still associated with the prize.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the books below, we strongly encourage you to buy them directly from Stanfords , who put on the awards. By supporting them directly, you help support the the awards and the celebration of travel literature.

Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing

⭐️ Tony Wheeler ⭐️

Stanford Travel Book of the Year

Titles have been selected in this category for their innovative and/or literary merit with content which is relevant, useful or inspiring to travelers:

• ⭐️ In The Shadow of the Mountain by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado ⭐️
• The Last Overland: Singapore to London: The Return Journey of the Iconic Land Rover Expedition by Alex Bescoby
• High: A Journey Across the Himalayas Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal and China by Erika Fatland
• The Po: An Elegy for Italy’s Longest River by Tobias Jones 
• The Slow Road to Tehran: A Revelatory Bike Ride through Europe and the Middle East by Rebecca Lowe
• Crossed Off the Map: Travels in Bolivia by Shafik Meghji
• Walking with Nomads by Alice Morrison
• My Family and Other Enemies: Life and Travels in Croatia’s Hinterland by Mary Novakovich

Bradt Travel Guides New Travel Writer of the Year

The theme for this year’s competition was “ Beneath the Surface .”

• ⭐️ What Was Left Behind by Emma Willsteed ⭐️
• An Unforgettable Day in Iran by Ruth Millington
• All You Can Ea t by Chris Baker

Children’s Travel Book of the Year

Fiction or non-fiction title for pre-teens which inspires a love of travel, exploration and adventure.

• ⭐️ The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold ⭐️
• The Accidental Stowaway by Judith Eagle
• An Atlas of Lost Kingdoms: Discover Mythical Lands, Lost Cities and Vanished Islands by Emily Hawkins
• A World Full of Journeys and Migrations : Over 50 stories of human migration that changed our world by Christopher Corr
• The Girl Who Rowed the Ocean by Alastair Humphreys
• Explorapedia by Lonely Planet Kids

Fiction with a Sense of Place

A novel from any genre within fiction (populist or literary) with a highly developed and integral sense of a real location interwoven within the plot or narrative.

• Not awarded in 2023.

Food and Drink Travel Book of the Year

Cookbook or non-fiction food writing focussed on a particular national cuisine or telling of food related exploration/travel. Must capture a sense of the place’s identity and culture.

Photographic Travel Book of the Year

A book of photography relating to travel, adventure or world cultures with limited accompanying text. The overall design and quality of publication of the book will also be considered by the judges.

Illustrated Travel Book of the Year

A book of illustrations, maps or infographics relating to travel, adventure or world cultures aimed at the adult market and with their focus on either one place or the entire World. The overall design and quality of publication of the book will also be considered by the judges.

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Last Updated on 13 December 2023 by Travel Writing World

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Travel Writing World

With an emphasis on travel books and long-form travel literature, host Jeremy Bassetti talks with the world’s most inspiring travel writers about their work and about the business and craft of travel writing in this award-winning podcast and website. In addition to the podcast, the site also features travel writer profiles, book reviews, and articles.

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Travel write: select entries from 20 years of the bradt travel-writing competition (paperback).

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Travel Writing Competitions

We host regular travel writing competitions on themes that explore different aspects of the travel experience. Entry is generally free and open to new and established travel writers worldwide. Winners are paid a monetary prize and selected finalists and published and paid our standard publication fee.

There are currently no open competitions. You can enjoy reading stories from our past competitions below.

Recent Travel Writing Competitions:

Crossings (april 2024).

Theme : From physical barriers, notable landmarks, or simply a passage from who we were to who we are after having traveled to a particular place, crossings are everywhere when we travel.

Finalist: Why You Should Sleep on Haystacks by Zane Jarecke Finalist: Checkpoints and Chai by Danika Smith Finalist: An Almost Film Composer in Beijing by Nathaniel Murray Finalist: Night Train to Nukus by Alex Dutson Winner: A Night Walk in Kathmandu by Carolyn Keller

The Soundtrack of Travel (September 2023)

Theme: Explore the importance of music in how we experience travel.

Finalist: Cornered in Madrid by Marianne Rogoff Finalist: From Sudan with Love by Liz Mason Finalist: Waking Up the Souls by Stu Obrien Winner: Sitting, Waiting, Wishin g by Tiffany Connolly

Romance on the Road (March 2023)

Theme : In any travel experience, there are opportunities for love, romance, and connection.

Finalist: Romancing the Ice by Jana Dietrich Finalist: Here With Me in Mexico City by Stu O’Brien Finalist: Milagro del Mar by India Worstell Winner: The Dead’s Mailbox by Khrystelle Francheska

Wrong Turns (April 2022)

Theme: Travel may take us in unintended directions, but our new destination can provide meaningful experiences and memories.

Finalist: On the Banks of the Perfume River by Ian C Douglas Finalist: One Wrong Turn in Mexico by Timothy Mathis Finalist: Parables and Archetypes by W Goodwin Winner: Your Roots Are Showing by Amie McGraham

Unexpected Adventures (August 2021)

Theme: The best travel experiences are the ones we do not plan.

Finalist: The Nowhere Man by Steve Wade Finalist: Seekat by Tanya Lottridge Finalist: A Watershed Vacation by Joe Novara Winner: Wildes Volk by Joe Aultman-Moore

Reunions (December 2020)

Theme: Stories about a time you have reconnected with a person, a place, or a part of yourself.

Finalist: Al Dente by Callum Brockett Finalist: Davy Jones and the Cape by Jane Copland Finalist: Through the Beholder’s Eyes by Annointing Ogbewekon Finalist: Brave as Hatice by Katherine Belliel Winner: The Jeweled Lotus by E. E. Rhodes

Chance Encounters (April 2020)

Theme: Stories about an interesting conversation, quirky character, or unexpected encounter that occurred during your travels.

Finalist: Knights on the Mountain by Joe Aultman-Moore Finalist: For the Love of a Dugong by Imogen Lepere Finalist: The Last Days of Communism by Rachael Rowe Winner: Coffee in Kigali by Emma Dredge

Fearless Footsteps (October 2019)

Theme: Overcoming fear while on the road can lead to meaningful travel experiences.

For this writing competition, we partnered with Exisle Publishing to release an anthology of selected entries. After some delays due to the disruptions of last year, the book was finally released worldwide in November 2020 – learn more here: Fearless Footsteps book A couple of entries were also published on IntrepidTimes.com, including: Everything is Going to be Okay… by J.D. Martens On the Road to Panic by Megan Dwyer

Subscribe to our newsletter and follow our channels below to be notified when the next writing competition is live!

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ADVANCED AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES. PTA 2023 happens in Moscow, Russia Oct, 2023 focus on Integrated Circuits. The cycle of the trade fair is , organize by ZAO Expocentr at Expocentr' Krasnaya Presnya Fairgrounds.

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While you’re here, did you know that Bradt Guides is celebrating 50 years of independent travel publishing?  Find information about anniversary events and other offerings here.

In the beginning

It all began in 1974 on an Amazon river barge. During an 18-month trip through South America, two adventurous young backpackers – Hilary Bradt and her then husband, George – decided to write about the hiking trails they had discovered through the Andes. 

Backpacking Along Ancient Ways Peru & Bolivia  included the very first descriptions of the Inca Trail. It was the start of a colourful journey to becoming one of the best-loved travel publishers in the world; you can read about this in more detail on the Our Story page .

Getting there first

Hilary quickly gained a reputation for being a true travel pioneer, and in the 1980s she started to publish guides by other writers to places overlooked by other travel publishers. The Bradt Guides list became a roll call of guidebook ‘firsts’.

We published the first guide to Madagascar, followed by Mauritius, Czechoslovakia and Vietnam. The 1990s saw the beginning of our extensive coverage of Africa: Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Eritrea.

Later, post-conflict guides became a feature: Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola and Sierra Leone, as well as the first standalone guides to the Baltic States following the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the first post-war guides to Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania.

Comprehensive – and with a conscience

Today, we are the world’s largest independently-owned guidebook publisher, with over 200 titles in print. However, our ethos is unchanged. Hilary is still involved, and  we still get there first : over 70% of our city, region and country guides still have no direct competition from other publishers – see more on the Somewhere only we know page.

But we don’t just get there first. Our guides are known for being  more comprehensive  than any other series. We avoid templates and tick-lists. Each guide is a one-of-a-kind expression of an expert author’s interests, knowledge and enthusiasm for telling it like it really is.

And a commitment to wildlife, conservation and respect for local communities has always been at the heart of our books. Bradt Guides was  championing sustainable travel  before any other guidebook publisher. We have a series dedicated to Slow Travel in the UK, award-winning books that explore the country with a passion and depth you’ll find nowhere else.

Thanks for visiting our website

We can only do what we do because of the support of our readers – people who value less-obvious experiences, less-visited places and a more thoughtful approach to travel. Those who, like us, take travel seriously.

Our attention to quality has brought many awards including:

• British Guild of Travel Writers Members’ Excellence Award: Travel Narrative Book of the Year – The Adele Evans Award ( Minarets in the Mountains , 2022, and My Family and Other Enemies , 2023)
• Gold Award for ‘Top Guidebook Series’ in the  Wanderlust  Reader Travel Awards (2009, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019)
• Best Guidebook at the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards ( Slow Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly ,  2013;  Slow Travel North Devon & Exmoor ,  2015;  The Basque Country and Navarre ,  2016;  Wild Times ,  2017;  52 European Wildlife Weekends , 2018; and Camping Road Trips U K , 2023)
• Best Narrative Travel Book at the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards ( Wild about Britain , 2018)
• Travel Guidebook of the Year at the Travel Media Awards ( A Summer of British   Wildlife , 2016)
• Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards 2017 (shortlist)

Working with writers, photographers, printers, booksellers and distributors across the globe, we publish over 40 new titles a year.

Hilary Bradt MBE – Co-Founder, Director hilarybradt.com

Hilary worked as an occupational therapist in Edinburgh, London, Boston and San Francisco, before becoming unemployable when the gaps between jobs were noticed. She married George Bradt in 1972 and spent the next four years in South America and Africa, accidentally founding Bradt Travel Guides en route.

After splitting with George in 1980, she built up the publishing business while leading treks and tours to South America, Kenya and Madagascar, writing a few books and publishing a lot more. She received the BGTW Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, and was inducted into the  LATA Hall of Fame  in 2019. She was  awarded an MBE  in 2008.

Favourite destination: Madagascar Little-known fact: As a school girl in the 1950s Hilary was considered too dim to go to university so learned German, not Latin. First trip abroad was to Germany to stay with pen-friend. Hated it; hated her.

Adrian Phillips – Managing Director @adrianphillips1

Adrian has been Managing Director since 2014, but his Bradt journey stretches back to 2000 when, as a thirsty PhD student, he proofread Bradt guidebooks to raise some extra beer money. He joined the in-house team as an Editorial Assistant in 2001, and can properly be said to know the company from top to bottom.

In addition to working on the publishing side of the fence, Adrian is a leading writer and broadcaster. He writes for national media including The Times, The Telegraph and National Geographic Traveller , has authored several guidebooks (among them Bradt guides to Budapest and Hungary ), and makes frequent broadcast appearances on the BBC, ITV and Sky. Among the awards he has received are BGTW Travel Writer of the Year (twice), AITO Travel Writer of the Year, Travel Media Consumer Writer of the Year, BGTW Broadcaster of the Year, and BGTW Guidebook Writer of the Year.

Favourite destination: Hungary (as the husband of a Hungarian, he has to say that…) Little-known fact: Adrian’s sense of direction is so poor that he followed the wrong procession from the cemetery following his grandmother’s funeral and ended up at a stranger’s wake in High Wycombe rather than his own family’s one in Chorleywood.

Anna Moores – Editorial and Creative Director

Anna joined Bradt in 2005 as an editorial assistant, and in her own words, “is living proof that if you hang around somewhere long enough then they have to promote you”. A self-confessed grammar nerd, she can be brought to tears by the incorrect use of less/fewer and strives to avoid splitting infinitives wherever possible.

Grammar aside, Anna loves working on design and making Bradt beautiful and feels extremely lucky that she gets to work with some wonderful illustrators, designers and photographers daily. She is also the company’s social secretary and will bring Bradt people, past and present, together at any chance she gets for a pint or three…

Favourite destination: Anywhere with wildlife, but Rwanda was a favourite. Little-known fact: Anna has been peed on by a golden monkey and considers this extremely lucky. It was golden after all.

Hugh Brune – Commercial Director

Hugh Brune first met Hilary in 2001 when he worked at Portfolio, the sales agency that sold Bradt Guides around the world. He returned to the company in 2016 to head up sales and marketing.

When not trying to persuade people to buy Bradt books, he writes sporadically for film, TV and the theatre. He also works for Eye/ Lightning, an independent publisher of fiction and general non-fiction.

Favourite place to revisit: Anywhere in the Peloponnese, having spent a very happy year there in his twenties. Most want to visit: Japan.

Sales and Marketing

Abigail King – Head of Digital Content & Strategy

Abi joined the team in the winter of 2022, having hauled Bradt books around Kazakhstan, the Galapagos and Namibia over the years.

Aside from her role at Bradt, she is an award-winning writer and broadcaster who has worked with the BBC, UNESCO, the EU, NASA and more.

She’s the founder of Inside the Travel Lab , described by National Geographic Traveler as “Essential Reading” and Lonely Planet as “one of the best travel blogs in the world.” Bradt may also say some nice things about it, too.

She has broadcast live on more than 50 occasions in more than fifteen countries. Locations include the chambers of Marie Antoinette in the Palace of Versailles, the highest mountain on the Arabian Peninsula, the darkness of the Arctic Circle and the twilight of the Book of Kells in Dublin.

Passionate about sustainable travel, she was invited to speak at the EU-China Summit on Sustainable Tourism at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and joined a panel to talk about responsible tourism for NASA-Hybrid CoE in Helsinki.

Favourite destination: The Arctic Circle. And Mauritius. Paris. No, London. Actually, don’t ask unless you’re ready to hear about twenty different places…

Little-known fact: Before writing, she studied Neuroscience at Cambridge and worked for the best part of a decade as a doctor in A&E and Intensive Care.

Neil Matthews – Marketing Assistant (press, PR, events)

Neil joined the Bradt staff team in 2023, continuing a marketing career that has ranged across financial services, Further Education, heritage and the charity sector, dealing with everyone from Marquesses to hearing dogs.

He was a winner in the Bradt / Independent on Sunday travel writing competition with an article on Berlin. Since then, he has co-written two Bradt guidebooks with his wife Helen. Their travel articles, covering everywhere from Scotland and Siberia to the Faroe Islands and North Korea, have appeared in Wanderlust, This is England and various other publications.

Neil is a published historian (his PhD thesis was on modern British travel and tourism), newsletter editor and ex officio Council member for the John Buchan Society, and an occasional spectator at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Favourite destination(s): in true Bradt style, prefers places that aren’t necessarily everyone’s choice such as Pakistan, Venezuela… and Hull. Little known fact : Neil once interviewed the creator of the Wombles, Elisabeth Beresford, as part of his research for a book on the places from which the Wombles got their names.

Harriet Solomon – Digital Assistant

Harriet works at Bradt part-time while pursuing her PhD in International History at The London School of Economics. When she isn’t knee-deep in an archive, she’s always on the lookout for bargain flights and European weekend getaways!

Favourite destination:  Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

Debbie Wylde – Partnership Manager

Debbie joined Bradt in early 2020 as freelance advertising sales, with a pause in the middle due to COVID. In January 2021 as travel opened up again, she started working on more titles and in October 2022 Debbie became part of the Bradt Team as Partnership Manager looking after most of the print and digital advertising campaigns.  

Debbie has worked in travel publishing for 30 years. Prior to Bradt she worked with Footprint Travel Guides for 25 years, as Head of Advertising & sponsorship. In 2019 Footprint was purchased by Bradt Guides.  

Debbie has travelled to many countries, connecting with many travel partners along the way, some of which are still friends today! 

Favourite Destinations : Kenya & Tanzania – magical sunsets and beautiful people! 

Little known fact : Debbie worked on a  Darts Monthly   magazine, networking with some top players including Phil the Power Taylor, Gary Anderson and Eric Bristow during the PDA held at The Blackpool Ballroom.

Claire Strange – Commissioning Editor

When she joined Bradt in February 2013, Claire brought with her more than twenty years’ experience editing travel guides, both in the UK and Australia. At her desk she gains enormous satisfaction from correcting hyphens and en-dashes; away from the office she spends her time visiting out-of-the-way museums, trawling the internet for exciting camping innovations and planning her next holiday.

Favourite destination: Wilsons Promontory National Park. Little-known fact: Favourite time of the day: 06.30 for a walk in the woods.

Sue Cooper – Publishing Manager

Sue joined Bradt in 2011 after eleven years working at Dorling Kindersley and Penguin and four years prior to that with a red-shoed Dutch paper-engineer, and was surprised to find Bradt HQ was in the village she grew up in.

Starting as Production Manager, she now also works on advertising sales and commissioning, which keeps her happily busy. In her spare time, she loves to explore new places with her daughter.

Favourite destination: Walberswick, Suffolk. Little known fact: Sue spent a year studying at the Sorbonne pretending to understand Old French.

Susannah Lord – Managing Editor

Susannah has worked in publishing for more than two decades. Her career has focused predominantly on academic journals and non-fiction books, both in house and freelance. Swapping subjects such as Shakespeare, biological sciences, cultural studies and beer for the world of travel, Susannah embarked on her journey with Bradt in 2016.

An Italian speaker, she is inspired by all things Italian, especially art, architecture and food, and is passionate about good grammar and baking (not always in that order!).

Favourite destination: Italy, of course. Wants to visit: Trieste and Palmanova, Italy; Sri Lanka.

Ian Spick – Senior Designer and Typesetter

Ian joined Bradt from Insight Guides in 2013 where he was Senior Designer. Before that he worked as Art Editor at Dorling Kindersley, contributing to the Medical Books team and Art and Antiques team. He has also worked at a design studio that produced in-flight magazines for airlines and books.

Favourite destination: Italy and more specifically Tuscany. Ian hopes to one day go touring on motorbike there but needs to convince his wife first. Little-known fact: Ian once bought a pint for Lemmy from Motorhead, whilst at a gig at Dingwalls in Camden. The scary-looking chap couldn’t have been nicer!

Kate Howard – Editorial Assistant

Kate joined Bradt in June 2022, having worked in various fields as an administrator, teacher and librarian.  

Favourite destination: Florence

Elspeth Beidas – Editorial Project Manager

Elspeth started out as an Editorial Assistant at Bradt in 2008 and, after a ten-year stint working on illustrated guides to travel and popular culture for other publishers, rejoined the company in 2023. (If that’s not a sign of a good place to work, what is?!) Her early years at Bradt have been hugely influential on her approach to travel, inspiring her to seek out unsung destinations and get up close to the local wildlife. When she’s not busy planning her next trip, she can usually be found walking or cycling around Surrey and the South Downs.  

Favourite destination: It’s impossible to choose, but Rwanda, Namibia, Georgia and Costa Rica are all up there as highlights

Samantha Fletcher – Editorial Project Manager

Sam joined Bradt in 2023 after ten years of working as an editor, first at a newspaper and later at Pan Macmillan. When not ironing out grammar and pedantically checking facts, Sam loves to bake – and, of course, travel!

Favourite destinations: Vietnam and Chile.

Little-known fact: Prue Leith once asked her why she was so determined to get Guinness into a cake. The answer is: because it’s delicious, Prue…

Helen Matthews – Data and Office Manager

Helen joined Bradt in June 2022 after working in Higher Education administration and management for over 25 years. She has co-authored guides to the Chilterns and Thames Valley and Heritage Weekends with her husband Neil and has also written a book on medieval bastards, based on her PhD.

Favourite destination: Central Asia

Little known fact: Helen used to have a life size inflatable Dalek in her office in a university department.

Amanda Warner – Bookkeeper and Finance Manager

Amanda joined Bradt in 2022 after previously working as a Finance Manager for a University.

Favourite destination:  Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies

Rob Whittenbury – Finance Manager

Rob joined Bradt in 2023 having spent 10 years working for a US multinational.

Favourite destinations : West Penwith, The Lake District and New Zealand