Skip to content

Bestselling travel writer connects with readers at home

Emily Ford
BBC News
Michael Turek Sophy Roberts stands to the right of the image, she's looking slightly off camera and smiling. Sophy has short light brown wavy hair, styled in a half-up do and wears round tortoiseshell sunglasses, a cream muslin scarf and white t shirt. The distance is slightly blurred but shows the wing of a small plane.Michael Turek
Sophy Roberts, who lives near Bridport, will be hosting a talk during Sherborne Travel Writing Festival

For bestselling author Sophy Roberts, the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival will be a chance to connect.

The first few lines of her latest book, A Training School for Elephants, describe the landscape of her Dorset home.

But as the travel writer admits, "for all its beauty and all the people I love that live here, I have a very restless spirit".

This spirit has taken her across the globe, as a journalist and author, and she is now preparing to share it with readers.

Michael Turek Sophy is crouched down grinning widely at a gorilla, who looks as if it's posing for her to take a photo. Sophy is holding a camera and has her hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a grey long sleeved top. She and the gorilla are surrounded by trees and green leaves.Michael Turek
Sophy says being able to hold an event about her work closer to home means a lot to her

It's the third year Sherborne Travel Writing Festival has been held in the town, hosting award-winning writers in talks for more than 200 guests.

The event means a lot for Sophy, who has decades of experience in the industry.

"Just because my work takes me far away doesn't mean I'm not without my anchors in community, that's why I like this festival," she explains.

"I find the audience is so engaged, passionate, curious. It makes you feel good about this shared curiosity for what lives beyond our very pretty Dorset."

Sophy says it is also important to her as it is an opportunity for her loved ones to gain some insight into her life.

She continued: "For them to be able to be in the room, in a talk that immerses them in the life I have been pursuing for five years, it means a lot to me."

Tom Parker An aerial view of an elephant heard walking through long gree grass. There are dozens of grey elephants walking through the grass.Tom Parker
Sophy's latest book, A Training School for Elephants, will be the focus of her talk on Saturday

Authors speaking at this year's festival, which runs until Sunday, include Ann Morgan, Barnaby Rogerson, Kapka Kassabova, Xiaolu Guo, Jonathan Lorie, Alexander Christie-Miller, Mevan Babakar and Horatio Clare.

Sophy, who will be talking at the festival at 19:00 BST, said the prize is "exciting recognition for the genre", acknowledging the cost of travel writing.

"[It] is really high, one way of doing it through a book advance but that money runs out really quickly."

Michael Turek Sophy is on a train in Africa, looking out of the window, which is half open. There is a view of trees through the window. Sophy has her hair up in a ponytail, wears sunglasses and a denim shirt and dark grey cotton maxi dress. She is resting her chin on her hand as she looks at the view, her other hand is holding onto a rail in the train cabin.Michael Turek
Sophy has partly funded her travel writing career through freelance writing for other publications

Despite the expenses sometimes associated with travel, Sophy feels it is an exciting and "challenging" time.

"It's really important to question a genre that's colonial in its bones. What's happening now is a very exciting recalibration of that privilege, with new and diverse voices.

"Understanding places we're not from, cultures we don't belong to, politics we don't understand - whatever it might be - this is a space where those connections occur through the written word."

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.

More on this story
Related Links