Meet the Contributors of The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011

The most rewarding part of editing The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011 was getting to know the women behind the stories. And now you can meet them too, in a weekly series of interviews. Check back each week or subscribe to my RSS feed to meet the inspiring, intrepid women whose stories make up The Best Women's Travel Writing 2011. Learn how they started traveling, who inspires them, where they're headed next, and much more.

Conner Gorry is a journalist, freelance writer, and guidebook author who lives in Havana, Cuba. She has written over a dozen guides for Lonely Planet and other travel publishers and covers the Cuban health system for MEDICC Review.

Abbie Kozolchyk has contributed to National Geographic Traveler, Travel + Leisure, the San Francisco Chronicle, Outside, World Hum, Concierge.com, Forbes Traveler, Travelers' Tales, and numerous women's magazines.

Anna Wexler is a freelance writer and filmmaker based in Tel Aviv whose work has appeared in a number of print and online publications, including Maxim, 18, Glimpse, Budget Travel, and Mir Afishu.

Marcy Gordon's writing has appeared in many Travelers’ Tales anthologies. She is the editor of Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana: Funny Travel Stories from the Road (spring, 2012) and writes Come For the Wine, a popular blog. 

Susan Rich is is the author of three collections of poetry: The Cartographer’s Tongue/Poems of the World, Cures Include Travel, and The Alchemist’s Kitchen. She has received awards from PEN USA, The Times Literary Supplement (London), and Peace Corps Writers.

Bridget Crocker is a contributing author to Lonely Planet guidebooks and the outdoor clothing company, Patagonia. Her work has been featured in National Geographic Adventure, Trail Runner, Paddler, and Outside.

Katherine Jamieson's writing has been published in The New York Times, Washingtonian, Ms., Narrative Magazine, Brevity, and The Best Travel Writing 2011. 

Bonnie Stewart is an educator, writer, and social media researcher whose work won the 2011 Island Literary Award for Creative Non-fiction, and has appeared in CBConline and Salon.com.

Marcia DeSanctis is a journalist and writer whose work has appeared in Vogue, Departures, The New York Times Magazine, Recce, Best Travel Writing 2011 and Town & Country.

Meera Subramanian is a contributor to such publications as The New York Times and Smithsonian, and editor of the online literary magazine Killing the Buddha.

Meet Best Women's Travel Writing Contributor Conner Gorry

A native New Yorker, Conner Gorry first went to Cuba as a volunteer in 1993 and moved to Havana permanently in 2002. A journalist, freelance writer, and guidebook author, she has written more than a dozen guides for Lonely Planet and other travel publishers and covers the Cuban health system for MEDICC Review. A privileged gig, she is the only American journalist to have lived with and reported on Cuban doctors in settings as diverse as post-disaster Pakistan and Haiti, the barrios of Caracas, and the Honduran Mosquito Coast. Her blog, Here is Havana, is continuously updated despite a laborious 48kbp dial-up connection, and in 2010, Conner launched Havana Good Time – the only travel iApp written and maintained from Cuba. She is currently finishing a book chronicling contemporary life on the island – including her own. For details of Conner’s work, including clips, see www.connergorry.com.  

What’s one place that has moved you or changed you in a significant way?

One of the beauties of travel for me is that every place has the potential to change us in a significant way. Even the next town over harbors this potential – we just have to be open to it. Some destinations, however, are blatant game changers. They’re in your face: you arrive and the place gets under your skin, in your mind and heart saying: “Pay attention; this is important. Be present and conscious while exploring this land.” The Big Island of Hawaii is that place for me. Even though I’ve lived in Cuba for almost 10 years (and the place has changed me mightily – beyond recognition some might argue!), the unparalleled landscapes of the Big Island, the “mana” (spiritual energy) of the land, the heterogeneous culture, plus the rich history and traditions, and let’s face it: the remote location, seem to affect me at a molecular level somehow.

Who is the most inspiring or interesting person you’ve met on the road?

Erva Farnsworth. She was my landlady in Puna on the Big Island when I first went there in 2001 and now we’re close friends. She’s 93, goes swimming every day, went to China and Vietnam last year, cracks a great joke, and is your all-around kick-ass old lady. I want to be like her when I grow up!