Truth in Travel Writing: A Conversation With Tim Hannigan

Intrepid Times

Tim Hannigan is back on the podcast to discuss one of the major ethical considerations in travel writing: the truth. In this conversation with Jennifer, Tim talks about the underlying tensions that make talking about truth in travel writing so tricky, strategies travel writers use to create a rhetoric of truth that readers can rely on, how the shifting definition of travel writing makes any conversation about whether it should be true or not a bit impossible, why what we leave out can be just as important as what we add in, Tim’s view on why fictionalization in travel writing can be a slippery slope, and how new and experienced travel writers can audit their own writing to ensure any story stays as close to the truth as possible.