LGBTQ Travel Writers

It has been observed that travel and writing go hand-in-hand. The desire to travel and see the unknown or experience a different life is coupled with an equal desire to share the experience and encourage others to do the same.

Throughout history, there have been many prominent fiction and non-fiction writers of a travelling life. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the readers of these books on travel looked for information about far-off lands in an effort to let their minds wander to somewhere they would never have a chance of visiting. The authors were put in the same category as explorers and adventurers of the unknown world. Their books were often biographical in detailing their personal adventures. Many early works of literature can be viewed as travel narratives.

Any notion of same-sex adventures in these early works tended to occur through subtle wording because such relationships were illegal. Those who were more upfront about LGBTQ characters in their books were considered radical and often forced into exile. Nevertheless, their books were popular and their legacy continues to this day. Authors such as Britain's Norman Douglas and Sir Wilfred Thesiger, or American Richard Halliburton, stirred their reader's imagination to great heights.

Today, in addition to both fiction and non-fiction books, travel writing includes destination guides, hotel and restaurant reviews, tour suggestions, and travel blogs or other social media products. The latter group of writers appear mostly in glossy magazines and online. There can be a distinct category of writing on LGBTQ travelers and their interests, with a mind on safety of the traveller.

Several of the contemporary travel writers presented here have won awards for their work, including the Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the Grand Prize in Travel Journalism Award Winner for the North American Travel Journalists Association.

We have identified the following individuals as prominent travel writers. Simply click on their names to read more about their fascinating lives and published work.

Canada