It’s one of the first things we discover as children, reading and drawing: Maps have a unique power to transport us to distant lands on wondrous travels. Put a map at the start of a book, and we know an adventure is going to follow. Displaying this truth with beautiful full-color illustrations, The Writer’s Map is an atlas of the journeys that our most creative storytellers have made throughout their lives. This magnificent collection encompasses not only the maps that appear in their books but also the many maps that have inspired them, the sketches that they used while writing, and others that simply sparked their curiosity. Philip Pullman recounts the experience of drawing a map as he set out on one of his early novels, The Tin Princess. Miraphora Mina recalls the creative challenge of drawing up ”The Marauder’s Map” for the Harry Potter films. David Mitchell leads us to the Mappa Mundi by way of Cloud Atlas and his own sketch maps. Robert Macfarlane reflects on the cartophilia that has informed his evocative nature writing, which was set off by Robert Louis Stevenson and his map of Treasure Island. Joanne Harris tells of her fascination with Norse maps of the universe. Reif Larsen writes about our dependence on GPS and the impulse to map our experience. Daniel Reeve describes drawing maps and charts for The Hobbit film trilogy. This exquisitely crafted and illustrated atlas explores these and so many more of the maps writers create and are inspired bysome real, some imaginedin both words and images. Amid a cornucopia of 167 full-color images, we find here maps of the world as envisaged in medieval times, as well as maps of adventure, sci-fi and fantasy, nursery rhymes, literary classics, and collectible comics. An enchanting visual and verbal journey, The Writer’s Map will be irresistible for lovers of maps, literature, and memoriesand anyone prone to flights of the imagination.
Huw Lewis-Jones is a historian of exploration with a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He was formerly curator at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, and the National Maritime Museum, London. His books include Arctic, Ocean Portraits, In Search of theSouth Pole, The Conquest of Everest, The Crossing of Antarctica, and Across the Arctic Ocean. Most recently, he is also coauthor of the internationally bestselling Explorers’ Sketchbooks.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE A PLAUSIBLE POSSIBLE: Razkavia Realized PHILIP PULLMAN PART ONE - MAKE BELIEVE THE LITTLE THINGS: Mapping Memories HUW LEWIS-JONES IN FABLED LANDS: Literary Geographies HUW LEWIS-JONES AND BRIAN SIBLEY PART TWO - WRITING MAPS FIRST STEPS: Our Neverlands CRESSIDA COWELL OFF THE GRID: Treasured Islands ROBERT MACFARLANE THOSE WHO WANDER: Moominvalley and Beyond FRANCES HARDINGE REBUILDING ASGARD: A Viking Worldview JOANNE HARRIS IMAGINARY CARTOGRAPHY: Mordor to Mappa Mundi DAVID MITCHELL TO KNOW THE DARK: With Scott and Kircher KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE THE WILD BEYOND: Walking in the Woods PIERS TORDAY REAL IN MY HEAD: Adventures on Castle Key HELEN MOSS BEYOND THE BLUE DOOR: Routes through Narnia ABI ELPHINSTONE PART THREE - CREATING MAPS MISCHIEF MANAGED: The Marauder’s Map MIRAPHORA MINA UNCHARTED TERRITORY: A Middle-Earth Mapmaker DANIEL REEVE CONNECTING CONTOURS: Carta Marina and More REIF LARSEN A WILD FARRAGO: Far-Off Fantasies RUSS NICHOLSON THE CYCLE OF STORIES: Early Earth and Faerie ISABEL GREENBERG NO BOY SCOUT: With Swallows and Amazons ROLAND CHAMBERS SYMBOLS AND SIGNS: On Crusoe and Others CORALIE BICKFORD-SMITH HALF THOUGHTS: Clangers and Noggin PETER FIRMIN PART FOUR - READING MAPS FOREIGN FANTASY: Dungeons and Dragons LEV GROSSMAN BY A WOMAN’S HAND: Cartographically Curious SANDI TOKSVIG LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY: Interior Journeys BRIAN SELZNICK EXPLORING UNKNOWNS: Terra Incognita HUW LEWIS-JONES ENVOI NEVER FORGET: The Beauty of Books CHRIS RIDDELL CONTRIBUTORS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FURTHER READING SOURCES OF QUOTATIONS SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS INDEX