Nick Thorpe

II have wanted to be a writer ever since I was a child, reading adventures by Arthur Ransome, Robert Westall and Enid Blyton at primary school. I particularly love the theme of voyages, both inner and outer - the way that people and places change and enlarge us, the way that we stretch ourselves when we look at the world from another’s point of view. My first book, Eight Men and a Duck, recounts my 2500-mile Pacific voyage to Easter Island aboard a slowly-sinking boat made from bundled reeds – a copy of a pre-Inca craft. Then in 2003, having lived in Scotland for exactly ten years, I set myself a new challenge: to circumnavigate this sea-fringed nation using canals and coastal routes and the generosity of my fellow humans. I started by hitching a ride outside my Edinburgh home, on the Union Canal in a little white boat with a man and a dog called Kaos. 2500 miles later, the result was Adrift in Caledonia: Boat-Hitching for the Unenlightened, which became a Scottish bestseller. I’m inspired by the constant movement of water, whether river or sea or inland loch – the way it reminds us that we are still at the mercy of nature. But I’m also fascinated by humanity’s quest for inner meaning - from the Celtic monks who set off in skin boats with no idea where they would end up, to the pared-down ideas of Buddhism. I have worked for many years with young people, through youth clubs I’ve helped run and schools I have visited. I love the way that young minds are still open and hungry to hear new perspectives. I’ve won the following awards: LATA Travel Writer of the Year 2002 (special commendation); Travel Story of the Year, Foreign Press Association Media Awards 2001; Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism 2001 (shortlisted); Travelex Travel Writing Awards 2000.