New Travel Writing Workshop

I'm holding a new Travel Writing Workshop for the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre this March. On this one day workshop you'll learn how to give yourself the best possible chance to earn an income from your adventures.

Travel writing is about engaging the reader and making the travel experience as real and exciting as possible. It's also about selling your work to publishers. This workshop will introduce participants to the requirements of this style of writing, from choosing destinations, to writing the article, to selling your work. Travel photography will also be discussed.

Where: SCU room, Byron Community Centre
When: Sunday, 18 March
What time: 10.00am-4.00pm
Cost: $70 NRWC members; $85 non-members

Only a few places are still available, so don't miss out. Contact the NRWC for details.

Feedback from my previous workshops include:

"Kim has a lovely presence & communicates exceptionally well - I like the ways she structured the workshop to lead us step by step through the process from thinking about the idea to how to get it published, as well as challenging us to actually write during the workshop. Her feedback on our efforts was very generous, positive and helpful." Virginia Clarke, Byron Bay

"Kim, I would recommend your workshops to any aspiring writers. Your experience and the friendly atmosphere made the weekend a very engaging learning experience." Sue Evans, Northern Rivers

"Kim Wildman lead a clear and inclusive travel writing workshop which not only focused on the skills of writing and storytelling but the business of travel writing and having your work published. A fun and valuable course by an experienced travel writer." Holly Galbraith, Go Future Media

"Excellent! The course was very useful and exceeded my expectations." Amy Dalguish, Travel Editor, Total Travel

"Inspirational and dynamic presenter. Engaging real life experiences of her travels and success in travel writing."

"A shame the workshop is over – onto the hard work now!"

Byron Bay Writers Festival

It's that time of year again when Australia's writing community converges on Byron Bay for the annual Byron Bay Writers Festival. There are only three sleeps left until it kicks off this Friday, 5 August. This year I'm thrilled to say I am making the transition from festival goer to festival panellist. I'll be offering my insights on the topic 'Why travel broadens the mind – and creativity' along with Adrienne Ferreira & Julietta Jameson, author of Me, Myself & Lord Byron. Our panel - chaired by Michael Pelusey- is on Friday, 5 August from 4pm-5pm in the Red Tent. Hope to see you all there!

Introduction to Travel Writing - 2 Day Workshop

It's a New Year and with the New Year comes a new range of workshops and retreats. For my first workshop this year, I'll be running an introductory course in Travel Writing for the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre. So if you've ever dreamed becoming a travel writer this is the year for you.

Introduction to Travel Writing - 2 Day Workshop

Ever dream of being a travel writer, but don't know where to start? Travel writing is more than just keeping a diary of where you went, what you did and who you met. It's about engaging the reader and making the travel experience as real and exciting as possible. It's also about selling your work to publishers. This two-day workshop will introduce participants to the requirements of this style of writing, from choosing destinations, to writing the article, to selling your work. Travel photography will also be discussed. A very practical workshop, participants will have the intervening week to work on exercises set by Kim.

When: 9am-1pm, Saturday 21 and Saturday 28 May
Where: SCU room, Byron Community Centre
Cost: $95 NRWC members, $120 non-members
Suitable for: This workshop is designed for beginning and emerging writers with an interest in travel writing.

To find out more or make a booking, contact the Northern Rivers Writers Centre.

People & Places photo comp: And the winner is...

I knew I lived in a very talented, well-travelled and generous community, but even I was blown away by the sheer number and quality of entries I received in the People & Places travel photography competition I organised to help raise money for my War Child Cambodia Cycle Challenge.

With more than 195 fantastic photographs received from the residents of the Byron Bay/Northern Rivers region of NSW, the three judges (Jeff Dawson from the Byron Bay Echo, local Bangalow-based photographer Lisa Sharpe and head of the Bangalow Chamber of Commerce, Michael Malloy) were certainly faced with a hard decision. In fact, there were so many worthy entrants, the winning photograph had to be decided by a secret ballot.

In the end the overall winner was Darren Pearson of Bangalow for his picture of Samburu women in traditional ceremonial garb taken in Northern Kenya (it's the picture in the top right-hand corner of the photograph above - and, yes, that's me), with second place going to Nharyan Feldman of Coorabell for his photograph titled 'In the moment' taken in Nepal.

Other category winners were: secondary high school students Isabella West (first place) and Kimberley Fuller (second place) of Nimbin and primary school students Colby Grant (first place) and Bingham Thurgate (second place) of Bangalow.

For my part, I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the competition and attended the exhibition for supporting such a worthy cause and making the night a huge success. In particular I'd like to thank Michael Malloy of the Bangalow Chamber of Commerce for all his help organising the event and Darren Pearson for donating his $200 prize back to the charity. Your generosity helped raise $3100.

Having already raised $1000 from donations and a further $900 from a smaller exhibition in Toowoomba, I am now only $1900 from reaching my goal of $6,900. If you are able to support me and help push me over the mark, I’d greatly appreciate it. Tax-deductable donations can be made safely over the internet through my page on the Everyday Hero website.

Picture: Courtesy of Christobel Munson.

New Frontiers: Travel writing in the digital age

Travel writing has long provided readers with a window to the world allowing us to see and experience faraway places without leaving the confines of our homes. Thanks to the world wide web, the field of travel writing has undergone a swift, head-spinning transformation in recent years. Starting February this year, I will be presenting a new six-week course for the Northern Rivers Writers Centre which will examine the art of travel writing within the context of the digital age. From contemporary e-guides, blogs and online forums to traditional newspapers, magazines and guidebooks, this course will show you how to build a career as a travel writer in the digital age. Participants need not be published but an introductory course [in any genre] will be assumed. So pull on your boots and get ready to walk a mile with me; if you plan to write travel it will be worth it!

When: Fridays, 12, 19 & 26 February; 5, 12, 19 March, 10am - 12.30pm
Where: Byron Bay
Cost: $255 (currently Members Only)

To find out more, contact the Northern Rivers Writers Centre.

Image sourced from FreeFoto.com

Tales from the road II: New course in travel writing

Following on from the success of my first travel writing workshop, I'm running a second one in November when I return to Australia. The one-day course, Tales from the Road: An Introduction to Travel Writing, will be held in Mullumbimby on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, on Saturday, 14 November. The course itself will take a practical approach to travel writing, giving an overview of the market from writing for newspapers, magazines and on-line, to authoring guidebooks. Students will learn how to evoke a sense of place, how to dress up articles with photographs and how to approach an editor with the perfect pitch.

Date: 14 November
Time: 10am - 4pm
Cost: $60 Full Fee; $54 Concession

If you happen to be in the Byron Bay area around this time, I would love for you to come along!

Picture: Me hard at work in Ghana (not Togo as the flag may lead you to believe) August 2009.

Tales from the road: An introduction to travel writing

As has probably been made fairly obvious by the slowdown in my blog postings over recent months, I've been keeping myself very busy with work (which is a blessing for a travel writer in today's economic climate!). Not only have I been continuing with my regular writing assignments for both Ninemsn and MSN NZ as well as organising my research trip for my next guidebook assignment in Ghana, I've also been working hard to break into several new markets, finally cracking The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age....But that's not all. I've also been secretly organising a new travel writing course for the Byron Bay Community College.

Following on from the feedback and queries I received after my guest lecture on travel writing at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, I decided to put my knowledge and skills to good use with a series of new workshops on travel writing. The first two-day course, Tales from the Road: An Introduction to Travel Writing, will be held in Mullumbimby on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, over the weekend of 1-2 August. The course itself will take a practical approach to travel writing, giving an overview of the market from writing for newspapers, magazines and on-line, to authoring guidebooks. Students will learn how to evoke a sense of place, how to dress up articles with photographs and how to approach an editor with the perfect pitch.

Date: 1-2 August
Time: 10am - 4pm
Cost: $120 Full Fee; $108 Concession

If you happen to be in the Byron Bay area around this time, I would love for you to come along!

Far North Coast NSW insider goes live

In my mad rush to finish all my work before the Christmas holidays, I forgot to mention that I had been working on an Insider's Guide to Far North Coast NSW for Ninemsn. In a bold new move the company has changed the format of their travel site to feature a wide range of insider's guides to well-known destinations, both in Australia and around the world, that have been written by in-the-know locals.

In my humble opinion, my region, Far North Coast NSW, is the closest place to heaven-on-earth that you'll find in Australia. While officially the North Coast of NSW tumbles from Newcastle, just north of Sydney, all the way to Tweed Heads on the border of Queensland, the region I specifically cover is the Far North Coast which stretches from Yamba to the Tweed encompassing a heady mix of sun, sea, sand and sumptuous national parks (not forgetting the country's most celebrated utopian paradise - Byron Bay). But instead of giving you a list of time honoured tourist sights and attractions, I give you the lowdown on where NOT to go and let you in on a few tips on what you can discover near the beaten track.

As part of my work for the guide I will be doing a live one hour chat on Tuesday, April 14 from 5:00pm Eastern Standard Time. For those of you on Facebook you can register here to take part.