‘In the Footsteps of Du Fu’ with Michael Wood: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes the internationally acclaimed historian, film-maker and broadcaster, and the author of several bestselling books, Michael Wood. He talks to Ann Morgan about his new book ‘In the Footsteps of Du Fu’, a beautifully illustrated travelogue, chronicling the life and work of one of the world greatest poets.

Du Fu (712-70) is one of China’s greatest poets. His career coincided with periods of famine, war and huge upheaval, yet his secular philosophical vision, combined with his empathy for the common folk of his nation, ensured that he soon became revered. Like Shakespeare or Dante, his poetry resonates in a timeless manner that ensures it is always relevant and offers something new to the modern generation.

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John Blashford-Snell in Conversation: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes Colonel John Blashford-Snell, one of the country’s most eminent and seasoned explorers.

His name is known globally for his daring adventures and intrepid journeys of discovery. Now, well into his eighties (and still planning future trips), he talks to Ann Morgan, telling tales from Africa, Asia and the Americas, about some of the 100 or so expeditions he has led in pursuit of archaeological, anthropological, botanical, biological and zoological objectives.

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‘The Conspiracy Tourist’ with Dom Joly: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes the multi-award-winning comedian, travel writer and columnist Dom Joly. He speaks to Antony Garvey about his latest book ‘The Conspiracy Tourist’.

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Victoria Hislop in Conversation: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes the international bestselling author Victoria Hislop. Victoria divides her time between England and Greece and in 2020, was granted honorary citizenship by the President. She talks to Ann Morgan about why the people and the place have captured her heart so completely, and what makes Greece and its islands so very special.

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‘Walking the Bones of Britain’ with Christopher Somerville

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes Christopher Somerville, author and walking correspondent for The Times. He talks to author Ben Aitken about his newest book Walking the Bones of Britain.

Travelling a thousand miles and across three billion years, Christopher Somerville sets out to interrogate the land beneath our feet, and how it has affected every aspect of human history from farming to house construction, the Industrial Revolution to the current climate crisis.

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‘8,000 Miles in the Andes by Bamboo Bike’ with Kate Rawles: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes author and eco adventurer Kate Rawles. She talks to author Ben Aitken about cycling the length of the Andes on an eccentric bicycle she built herself.

Pedalling hard for thirteen months, she witnesses the devastation of goldmining and oil drilling but finds hope in the incredible people working to regenerate habitats and communities. As she reaches the ‘end of the world’, she realises that to tackle biodiversity loss we all have a role to play.

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Michel Roux in Conversation: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes one of the world’s most respected chefs, Michel Roux. He talks to food writer and presenter Jo Pratt about some of his favourite dishes and cuisines, discovered on his culinary travels around the globe.

Michel Roux is one of the world’s most respected chefs, and this love of food runs through his family and heritage.  Le Gavroche, which he ran from 1991 until the beginning of this year, received recommendations for excellence in every food guide. Michel’s early training in France instilled in him a belief in simplicity and quality of raw ingredients which has he put to use in developing the recipes he uses both at Le Gavroche and in his books.

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‘One Medicine’ with Dr Matt Morgan: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes author and intensive care doctor Matt Morgan. He talks to Antony Garvey about his exhilarating journey across continents exploring his work on both the intensive care unit and the pages of his book One Medicine. From Africa’s heart to Canada’s wilderness, Bali’s mystique, and Australia’s vast landscapes, he uncovers the universal themes of life, death, and the remarkable bond between humans and animals, sharing how diverse landscapes have shaped his perspective on medicine and healing.

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‘Pages From My Passport’ with Amelia Dalton: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes author and ‘travel tailor’ Amelia Dalton. She talks to Ann Morgan about her book Pages From My Passport and her many adventures.

Amelia Dalton, fresh from touring the Scottish islands, takes on the world and sets up exclusive, expedition holidays in remote places for a new cruise ship. She scopes out remote archipelagos, deserted beaches and tiny local museums from Norway to Madagascar, by campervan, taxi, boat and small plane. While planning her itineraries, she explores inaccessible islands, survives a hotel fire, a bomb in a palace, being stung by a scorpion and thrown into jail. Meanwhile, she’s being wooed from afar by a mysterious stranger who turns up in the most unexpected places.

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‘High Caucasus’ with Tom Parfitt: Stanfords Travel Writers Festival 2024

From Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in London’s Olympia, The Stanfords Travel Writers Festival welcomes The Times Russia correspondent Tom Parfitt. He talks to Ann Morgan about his Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year shortlisted book ‘High Caucasus’ and discusses his deep ties to the area.

On 1 September 2004, Chechen and Ingush militants took more than a thousand people captive at a school in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. Working as a correspondent, Tom Parfitt witnessed the bloody climax in which 314 hostages died, more than half of them children. The experience left Tom emotionally shredded, struggling to find a way to return to his life in Moscow and put to rest the ghosts of the Beslan siege.

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