Sara Wheeler 'The minute curiosity of the travel writer - tales from the Arctic to the Antarctic'

Series Two

In this episode of 'The New Abnormal' I interview Sara Wheeler,  a prize-winning non-fiction writer noted for her accounts of the polar regions. Her books include the international bestseller Terra Incognita, which tells the story of a seven-month journey in Antarctica.

The Daily Telegraph reviewer wrote of it, ‘I do not think there will ever be a better book written about the Antarctic.’ In it, she mentioned sleeping in the captain's bunk in Scott's Hut.

Whilst in Antarctica she read 'The Worst Journey in the World', an account of the Terra Nova Expedition, and she later wrote a biography of its author Apsley Cherry-Garrard. 

For years she travelled frequently to Russia, Alaska, Greenland, Canada, and North Norway to write her book The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle (winner of the Banff Adventure Travel Prize).

She later wrote 'O My America!: Second Acts in a New World' which records the lives of women who travelled to America in the first half of the 19th Century, and the authors's travels in pursuit of them. 

Sara’s latest book, Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age, came out just prior to the pandemic.

Sara is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,  a Contributing Editor of The Literary Review, a Trustee of  The London Library and former chair of the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year award. 

She contributes to a wide range of publications in the UK and US and broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio. 

Sara's the most extraordinary person and I really enjoyed hearing her fascinating stories and perspectives.