An Open Door

New Travel Writing for a Precarious Century

Steven Lovatt

• Publisher: Parthian Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781913640620
• eBook ISBN: 9781914595349
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Literary Essays

'If the mountains secluded Wales from England, the long coastline was like an open door to the world at large.' – Jan Morris The history of Wales as a destination and confection of English Romantic writers is well-known, but this book reverses the process, turning a Welsh gaze on the rest of the world. This shift is timely: the severing of Britain from the European Union asks questions of Wales about its relationship to its own past, to the British state, to Europe and beyond, while the present political, public health and environmental crises mean that travel writing can and should never again be the comfortably escapist genre that it was. Our modern anxieties over identity are registered here in writing that questions in a personal, visceral way the meaning of belonging and homecoming, and reflects a search for stability and solace as much as a desire for adventure. Here are lyrical stories refracted through kaleidoscopes of family and world history, alongside accounts of forced displacement and the tenacious love that exists between people and places. Yet these pieces also show the enduring value and joy of travel itself. As Eluned Gramich expresses it 'It's one of the pleasures of travel to submit yourself to other people, let yourself be guided and taught'. Taken together, the stories of An Open Door extend Jan Morris' legacy into a turbulent present and even more uncertain future. Whether seen from Ll?n or the Somali desert, we still take turns to look out at the same stars, and it might be this recognition, above all, that encourages us to hold the door open for as long as we can. Featuring contributions from Eluned Gramich, Grace Quantock, Faisal Ali, Sophie Buchaillard, Giancarlo Gemin, Siân Melangell Dafydd, Mary-Ann Constantine, Kandace Siobhan Walker, Neil Gower, Julie Brominicks and Electra Rhodes.

Table of contents

• Cover
• About Steven Lovatt
• Title Page
• Introduction
• ELUNED GRAMICH Carioca Cymreig
• GRACE QUANTOCK Gone to Abergavenny
• FAISAL ALI From the Desert to the Docks and Back
• SOPHIE BUCHAILLARD Revolving Doors
• GIANCARLO GEMIN The Valleys of Venice: Memories of an Italian immigrant in Wales
• SIÂN MELANGELL DAFYDD Son of a Yew Tree
• MARY-ANN CONSTANTINE King Stevan’s Roads
• KANDACE SIOBHAN WALKER Clearances
• NEIL GOWER From Light and Language and Tides
• JULIE BROMINICKS The Murmuration
• E. E. Rhodes All Among the Saints
• Biographies
• Parthian Non-Fiction
• Copyright