Summary

The website content is an invitation to writers and readers to share and engage with travel-inspired stories, poems, and other creative writings during a time of global strangeness, emphasizing the beauty of exploring both external and internal landscapes.

Abstract

The webpage is a call to adventure, inviting the community to submit their travel narratives, poems, and other forms of written expression that capture the essence of places that resonate deeply with them. It acknowledges the peculiarity of the current times and celebrates the diverse and enchanting pieces that have been shared in the past week. The platform encourages writers to explore their relationship with various locations, whether they are far-flung destinations or close to home, and to delve into the transformative power of writing about these places. The editors highlight the importance of setting as a means of transporting oneself and the reader to another world, and they welcome experiments in different languages and art forms, including collages and doodles, as long as they convey a sense of place that is meaningful to the writer. The page also showcases some of the community's recent contributions that have made an impact, providing examples of the type of work that is appreciated and shared within the publication.

Opinions

The editors find the current times to be strange but have observed beauty in the community's writing efforts.
There is an appreciation for the magical quality of writing and reading about travel, which allows one to discover both the external world and the internal self.
The community values diversity in expression, encouraging contributions in various languages and art forms.
The editors express a particular fondness for pieces that evoke a strong sense of place, whether through narrative, poetry, or visual art.
They emphasize the importance of permission and courage in writing, especially when using 'other languages' beyond one's native tongue.
The editors believe that personal significance in a writer's work will resonate with the readers, creating a shared experience of travel and emotion.
The page conveys a sense of community and support, highlighting new and returning contributors and their impactful stories.
There is an underlying message of hope and connection through storytelling, suggesting that writing can be a source of comfort and inspiration during challenging times.

Invitation to Travel — Writing Prompt

Where have you been? More importantly, where are you taking us?

Wherever the destination…whatever place you want to visit, revisit…

I’m in.

The times are strange, the world is turning in ways we never expected…

And yet, it’s been a beautiful week in our community. We’ve had some incredible writing come our way.

And we’ve also had two live meetups to talk about those places that pull us so we can travel a bit with our pens.

I’ve heard the most beautiful stories this past week…

The places you’ve always wanted to discover. Or those places calling you back to them.

Sometimes exotic, sometimes just a few steps from home.

Stories that remind us that sometimes we travel to discover what’s outside, beyond ourselves. But often, we travel to explore what lies within.

If you’re a reader, you already know how magical it is when you open a book and transport yourself to another world.

It’s just as magical when you write yourself into one.

Promise.

So bring us your stories…your places. Take us with you.

Scribble them down. Send them in!

You can write a few lines, a narrative, a memory, a ‘captured moment,’ a one-line poem, a haiku, a piece of microfiction…or autofiction.

We also love collage poems, doodles…

Just make the setting a place that pulls you — a place so beautiful it cheers you up as soon as you let yourself be there again. Or a place that creates some kind of beautiful yearning in you.

Bring your experiments…feel free to try new things.

Bring your languages (with translation if possible ;)

Give yourself permission to write in your ‘other languages.’ Not just the one(s) you grew up speaking…It’s ok, you’re not alone.

If it matters to you, and you transport yourself to this place while you write?

It will matter to us too.

Some of last week’s Vagabond Voices that will make your day:

Elena Gabrielli with her first poems in our publication: A New World and The Golden Hour.

Lisa Bolin with her first (and beautiful!!) blackout poems in Swedish in My Shadow. Congratulations on taking that step into your…third? language.

The talented Sylph Hemery was back with a mesmerizing one-line poem Untold Stories.

Pablo Pereyra is back with this incredible and mysterious piece of autofiction In Search of Legoland. I love the questions this story makes me ask…

Rodrigo Bahadian is just joining us with a piece of fiction that wraps up historical perspective, beautiful prose and the power of music…Are You a Beatle or a Rolling Stone?

Mary McGrath brought us a beautiful poem, The Departure.

And I played with blackout poetry in Spanish in Manos de arpista.

Stories in other places that caught my eye…and might catch yours as well.

Thomas Gaudex, editor of Scribe with his Sunday Digest and a call to think of elderly people who are alone right now — who you can help with a letter sent via an association.

Also in Scribe, l’Ennemi intime, by Walter Ferrer is beautiful and will help you make sense of these moments, for those of you who read in French.

Travel to the Dodecanese Islands and see them as you would never have known them otherwise with Lasto, a mesmerizing piece by R Tsambounieri Talarantas.

Wherever you have traveled, wherever you yearn to go, wherever your stories take you…

Bring us along in your journeys.

And stay safe.

To join this publication, get in touch here.

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