2019-20 SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition
101 Grand Award - Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year ( Newspapers,Travel Magazines,Travel Coverage in General Magazines,Travel Audio-Radio,Travel Audio-Podcasts and Guides)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Kevin West Entry Title: Kevin West Portfolio Entry Credit: Kevin West Judge Comment: Great writers like great chefs do not follow the recipe -- they pluck the freshest of anecdotes, whisk them with exquisite wordplay, and finish it off with a dash of history. Kevin West brings artistry to every assignment, whether it be riding along the gawker’s highway that hugs the Coral Coast of Australia or describing “the babel” of the eclectic Los Angeles restaurant scene. His portfolio shows a wide and agile aptitude for form – including an essay on the public/private duality of hotel rooms, as well as explanation of how “punk” orangish wine put South Australia vintners on the map. West doesn’t shy from controversy. A piece on touring today’s Alabama doesn’t go straight to its sunny Gulf Shores, instead it rambles through the state’s clouded racial history. He displays mastery of the writing craft – words are not just tossed onto the page, but parboiled and plated with care to deliver an end result that is as much about style as it is about substance.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Stephanie Pearson Entry Title: Stephanie Pearson Portfolio Entry Credit: Stephanie Pearson Judge Comment: Travel writers often admit to being adrenaline junkies, 'jonesing' for the next pin on the map, mere servants to their own wanderlust. Stephanie Pearson not only fits this mold; she wallows in its concave glory. As she escapes a marauding black bear by jumping into a canoe, teeth chattering from the Minnesota chill, for Pearson this is a pinnacle of pride, not fear. That story is one of many adventures where Pearson sweeps readers up, twirls them around, and drops them off safely, armed with a taste and feel of the destination. Her adventurous spirit tackles a wide range of stories, including how Norway’s struggle to stop over-tourism has ignited a moral dilemma, pitting the Scandinavian belief in allemannsretten – the right to roam – against the country’s commitment to environmental responsibility. Her travel experience shows in useful tips stories – such as advising visitors not to drive at night in Baja, lest you crash into wandering cattle or careening big rigs.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Sebastian Modak Entry Title: Sebastian Modak for the New York Times Entry Credit: Sebastian Modak Judge Comment: Sebastian Modak writes in a scrum – his words so dense, so packed with bruising emotion, that readers become spectators to his travel, not merely armchair enthusiasts. In his year of writing about 52 places for The New York Times, Modak trekked to the deserts of Chile to hear the sounds of a total eclipse, and to the boreal forests of Lake Baikal in remote Southern Siberia to feel the spiritualism of the ribbon-covered totems of the ancient Buryat faith. In his selection of articles, Modak also weighs in on the barriers to tourism in Gambia and the loosening of life in Tunisia in the nine years since the Arab spring, which included a conversation on Keynesian economics. In all of the pieces, there was a sense of bold interaction that infuses every article with whimsical reality, such as asking for a haircut in an art installation on a remote Japanese island, to forcing himself to shake off his loneliness while shucking oysters on Orca Islands.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Aaron Teasdale Entry Title: Aaron Teasdale Portfolio Entry Credit: Aaron Teasdale Judge Comment: For many, travel is part of a life’s fabric, and for Aaron Teasdale, that fabric is woven from the hardscrabble spirit of the American West. In a piece for the Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Teasdale embarked on a trek that would unite three generations – “In that moment, time revealed itself as a kind of circle, or perhaps a deeply twisting river upon which we float past old places from new angles.” All of his stories share an intensely personal connection, capturing incredible moments such as watching bison return to the Great Prairie with tribal member George Horse Capture Jr. or walking into a Missoula college bar seeped with memories. In a portfolio that clearly well suited to his lifestyle, Aaron Teasdale measures twice and cuts once with writing that hits the mark.
