Announcing “The Hill of the Skull”

Travel Writing World

Hello, everyone. This is episode 101 of the Travel Writing World podcast, and it will be a short one. In the introduction to episode 99, my recent interview with Pico Iyer, I mentioned that I am taking a break from my normal, fortnightly schedule of interviews in 2023 to focus on a few projects. Well, today I want to announce one of those projects — it is a book called The Hill of the Skull. The Hill of the Skull is part photobook, part travel book. It will include photos and a narrative focusing on my visit to a sacred hill called the Hill of the Skull, which is a pilgrimage site in a town in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes. And when I say “foothills,” I also mean an altitude of over 8,500 feet (or about 2,500 meters). The hill gets slammed with visitors during a celebration call the Festival of the Virgin of Urkupiña, which happens every August and centers around the hill. Last August, I visited Bolivia primarily to do research on the festival and the hill… but let me just say here that I got more than I bargained for. And I’m excited to show you what I’ve been working on. If you’re interested in supporting the project, which I’ll crowdfund on Kickstarter this May, please sign up to get notified when the project launches either through Kickstarter or through my email list. If you visit travelwritingworld.com/skull, you will be able to sign-up to whichever notification method your prefer, either Kickstarter’s or my email list. If you’ve even remotely interested in the project, you’ll want to sign up to get notified when it launches because there will be special, time-sensitive discounts and rewards for those who support the project early in the campaign. The idea here is that I want to do something special for listeners of the Travel Writing World podcast and for supporters of my work. If the campaign is successful, the book will be a beautiful object made with premium materials and using the same printers and suppliers some of the major photobook publishers use. Get notified when The Hill of the Skull launches Please sign-up to get notified when the campaign launches at travelwritingworld.com/skull. And join me on Instagram to take a sneak peek at some of the work. More episodes, newsletters, & support Please consider supporting the show with a few dollars a month, less than a cup of coffee, to help keep our show alive and advertisement-free. You can also support the show by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or in your favorite podcasting app, subscribing to the show, and following us on Twitter & Instagram. Finally, join the Travel Writing World newsletter to receive your free copy of The Travel Writer’s Guidebook. You will also receive monthly dispatches & reports with podcast interviews, travel writing resources, & book recommendations. Alternatively, you can join the Genius Loci Newsletter to get monthly roundups of travel writing news. Thanks for your support! Intro music Peach by Daantai (Daantai’s Instagram) Disclaimer *Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, this website will earn a very small commission if a purchase is made using these links. Also, "as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases" using the Amazon links on this site. Thank you!