Lee Foster

The Rebecca Bruns Award is awarded bi-annually by Bay Area Travel Writers to one of its members whose dedication, both personally and professionally, has had a significant influence on fellow travel writers and their profession. Naturally, outstanding success is part of the equation, but it is not enough to say that the individual’s professional achievements are laudatory. More than that, the award recognizes originality, individuality and most of all, generosity in giving back to the writing community.

The 2010 Rebecca Bruns Award recipient is longtime BATW member Lee Foster.  Lee’s forward thinking, his dedication to professional development and education and his generosity as a teacher and mentor place him in the forefront of travel journalism today. BATW honors Lee with this recognition for his many contributions to the BATW membership and to the travel writing industry.

Congratulations, Lee Foster.

– Lee Daley

Thanks go to Karen Misuraca for forwarding this information:

The 2010 New England Book Festival – Call for Entries

The 2010 New England Book Festival has issued the call for entries to its annual competition honoring the best books of the holiday season.  It has added several new categories.

The competition will accept entries in the following categories:
non-fiction,
fiction,
biography/autobiography,
children’s books,
young adult,
how-to,
cookbooks,
science fiction,
photography/art,
poetry,
spiritual works,
compilations/anthologies,
gay,
unpublished stories and
wild card (for books that don’t neatly fit elsewhere).

All entries must be in English.

The grand prize for the 2010 New England Book Festival winner is $1500 cash and a flight to the awards in Boston in January, 2011.

Submitted works will be judged by a panel using the following criteria:

1) General excellence and the author’s passion for telling a good story.

2) The potential of the work to reach a wider audience.

FESTIVAL RULES: New England Book Festival submissions cannot be returned. Each entry must contain the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants.

NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES: We will notify each entry of the receipt of their package via e-mail and will announce the winning entries on our website. Because of the anticipated high volume of entries, we can only respond to e-mail inquiries.

Deadline submissions in each category must be postmarked by midnight on November 25, 2010. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and on the web site. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions at our meetings.

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at www.newenglandbookfestival.com or may be faxed/e-mailed to you. Please contact our office at (323) 665-8080 for fax requests. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee of $50 in the form of a check, money order or PayPal online payment in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee.

AWARDS: The New England Book Festival selection committee reserves the right to determine the eligibility of any project.

The 2010 New England Book Festival is part of the JM Northern Media family of festivals, which include the DIY Convention: Do It Yourself in Film, Music & Books, New York Book Festival and Hollywood Book Festival. The New England Book Festival is sponsored by The Larimar St. Croix Writers Colony, eDivvy, Shopanista and Westside Websites.

# # #

CONTACT:
323-665-8080
NewEnglandBookFest@sbcglobal.net

BATW BEST 2010 Writing and Photography Awards

Category 1 – Magazine Articles

Judges: Larry Bleiberg and Al Bonowitz

GOLD
Bill Fink
“Magic Realism Realized in Cartegena”
San Francisco Chronicle Magazine

SILVER
Bill Fink
“Travel Tales — Battle for a Bus Seat”
Islands magazine

BRONZE: Lee Foster
“Let’s Go to the Movies: California as a Movie Backdrop”
Rand McNally 2009 California Travel Atlas

Honorable Mention: Diane M.Covington
“Finding Gilbert”
Reader’s Digest

Category 2 – Best Newspaper Article

Judges: Donald George and John Flinn

GOLD: Bill Fink
“Across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad”
San Francisco Chronicle

SILVER: David T. Page
“Both Paradise and Safe Haven”
New York Times

BRONZE: Erin Van Rheenen
“Escape to a Tropical Alcatraz”
Los Angeles Times

Honorable Mention: Hank Mattimore
“The Gentle People, Visiting with the Tarahumara Indians”
Daily Republic

Category 3: Travel-Related Essay/Article in an Anthology

Judges: Sean O’Reilly and Bob Jenkins

GOLD: TIE
Natalie Galli
“Risen”, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009, Travelers’ Tales
AND
David Laws
“The Setting for Stories”, Steinbeck Review, Spring 2009, Wiley-Blackwell

SILVER: TIE
Ken Matusow
“The Long Red Road”, The Best Travel Writing 2009, Travelers’ Tales
AND
April Orcutt
“On the Lam on the Long Road to Lhasa”, Flightless: Incredible Journeys Without Leaving the Ground, Lonely Planet

BRONZE: Ken Matusow
“Grandpere”, Dreams and Inward Journeys, Longman

Honorable Mention:
Laurie McAndish King
“Big Cats”, The Best Womens’ Travel Writing 2009 and
“Sheela na Gig”, Venturing in Ireland: Quest for the Modern Celtic Soul, Travelers’ Tales

Category 4 – Best Text/Photo Combo articles

Judges: Donald George end John Flinn

GOLD: Ginger Dingus
“Riverboat Rambler”
New York Daily News

SILVER: Lee Foster
“San Luis Obispo, a Wine Lover’s Delight”
Distinctly Northwest magazine

BRONZE: Lee Daley
“Pozos, Artists Breathe New Life in to Old Mining Town”
Epicurean Traveler

Honorable Mention: Diane M. Covington
“Voila, Black Gold, on the Trial of Truffles in the Dordogne Region of France”
Ventana magazine

Category 5 – Internet Travel Article

Judges: Jim Benning and Nelson Alcantara

GOLD: Robert W. Bone
“Vietnam, 40 Years Later”, JPGMag.com

SILVER: Renata Polt
“Whistler, Before the Olympics”, culturevulture.net

BRONZE: Diane LeBow
“A Visit to Palau”, creators.com

Category 6 – Travel Guide Books

Judges: Ken Smith and Georgia Hesse

GOLD: David T. Page
Yosemite & Southern Sierra Nevada Travel Guide, Countryman Press

SILVER: Karen Misuraca
Backroads of the California Coast, Voyageur Press

BRONZE: Robert Stone
Day Hikes around Napa Valley, Day Hike Books

Category 8 – Writers’ Web sites

Judges: Jim Benning and Sean O’Reilly

GOLD: Patricia Arrigoni
www.travelpublishers.com

SILVER: David Page
www.sierrasurvey.com

BRONZE: Stephanie Levin
www.steffelevin.com

Honorable Mention: Lee Foster
www.LeeFoster.com

Honorable Mention: Carole Terwilliger Meyers
www.caroletmeyers.com

Honorable Mention: Diane Covington
www.dianecovington.com

Photography Winners

Category 9—Newspaper or Magazine Travel Photograph

Judges: Robert Holmes and Glen Steiner

GOLD
Zip Line, Honduras Island Hopping
John Montgomery
News-Herald, Southgate, MI

SILVER
Elephant Butte, Monument Valley
Janet and Stuart Wilson
RV Journal Magazine

BRONZE
Man on Log at Rialto Beach, Washington
Lee Foster
AARP The Magazine

Category 10—Internet Travel Photograph

GOLD
Irrawaddy Life
Laurie Weed
Verge Magazine

SILVER
Tienda Talk
Lee Daley
Epicurean Traveler

BRONZE
Kenya Thorn Tree
Lee Foster
National Geographic Traveler Magazine

Planet Earth 2010

“Travel writing that helps to sustain or enhance the unique and valuable character of a place — its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and/or the well-being of its residents.”

Best Travel Article or Essay for Planet Earth

Judges: Louis D’Amore and Bruce Anderson

GOLD
“Global Warming’s Poster Child”, Houston Chronicle
David G. Houser

SILVER
“Big Cats, No Guns”
Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009, Travelers’ Tales
Laurie McAndish King

BRONZE
“Icemen Cometh”, Discover magazine
Douglas Fox

Best Travel Book for Planet Earth

Judges: Dr. Gail Lash and Brad Newsham

GOLD
Sacred Places North America: 108 Destinations
CCC Publishing
Brad Olsen

SILVER
Yosemite & The Southern Sierra Nevada: A Complete Guide, Including Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Death Valley & Mammoth Lakes
Countryman Press
David T. Page

BRONZE
Nomad’s Hotel: Travels in Time and Space
Mariner Books
Cees Nooteboom

- – - – - – - – - -

See all the winning photographs under “Members News” on this website.

It’s that time of year to submit your best tourism-oriented stories and photos published on Canada in 2009. The 13th annual Northern Lights Awards for Excellence in Travel Journalism and Photography is open to magazines, newspapers, independent writers, photographers and Internet reporters in North America, published in either French or English outlets.

Entries for the competition must be post marked by Feb. 16, 2010. The complete rules and entry form are available online at:
http://www.canadamediamarket.org/exhibitors/northern_rules.asp

All winners in the newspaper, magazine, internet and photography categories will be presented with original indigenous artwork sponsored by Aboriginal Tourism British Columbia Association. Prizes for first, second and third place winners in both an independent writers (newspapers) category and independent writers (magazines) category will be USD $600, $400 and $200 respectively.

Awards will be judged by the Missouri School of Journalism and presented by the Canadian Tourism Commission on April 13, 2010 during Canada Media Marketplace ’10 in San Francisco. The annual awards program is a Canadian Tourism Commission initiative.

Questions? Please contact:
Susan Baumgartner
Northern Lights Media Awards
PMB 171, 208 East 51st Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 355-6025
northernlights@canadamediamarket.org

Heartbreak Competition

As Valentine’s Day approaches, write about your tale of heartbreak in 100-200 words. Restrain from writing a rant and using the guilty party’s real name (though it’s tempting).  Use a pronoun or just an initial.  He or she will know who they are. Craft your brief story with a beginning, middle and an end. What did you learn from this? How did it change you? Looking back, was it the best thing that ever happened to you? Or did it stay the worst? Was there an ironic twist? A happy ending?

Entries will be posted on the Tango Me Home Blog.  Maria Finn will choose 10 finalists. All finalists will receive a copy of her heartbreak memoir, Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home. These will then go to our panel of judges who will choose the winning story. This story will be arranged into a tango song by Marlan Barry. All rights to the song will be the property of the composer, but the winner will have his/her story of heartbreak immortalized into a work of art.

San Franccisco Bay Area Travel Writers and Photographers

our small blue planet Earth

At last the suspense will be over as BATW unveils the winners of 2010 BATW Travel Writing & Photography Awards and 2010 Planet Earth Awards.

Karen Misuraca says:

Don’t Miss the February Awards Program at Book Passage

The February 20 meeting (at Book Passage in Corte Madera) will be our presentation ceremonies for 2010 BATW Best Writing & Photography awards, 2010 Planet Earth awards, and Rebecca Bruns award. Guests are welcome, coffee, tea and cookies will be served at 9:30 a.m., and the many winners and their prizes will be announced.

There is no limit to the number of guests, but please RSVP online. Click for directions to Book Passage (you can get there by bus).

Click here to get to Google Maps.

When the date gets closer, please RSVP online via www.batw.org.

Book Passage bookstore

The Cancun CVB invites journalists to participate in the 2010 annual “International Journalism Awards“, which is open to all professionals and collaborators from the mass media (print, radio, TV, websites). The material/articles must have been broadcast or published in the public media between January 1 and December 31, 2009. Prizes are 1st $5,000 USD and 2nd $2,500. Deadline: January 10, 2010.  For complete rules and information contact Luisa Uruena at luisa@axistravelmarketing.com.

Last call for entries to Travel Journalism Awards to win Britain trip

North American-based broadcasters and journalists have just a couple days left to submit entries to the VisitBritain Travel Journalism Awards in Memory of Bedford Pace. Now in their 14th year, entrants could win a trip for two to Britain with British Airways.

Supported by The Heart of England, the Awards recognize the best articles and segments published or broadcast in 2009, which position Britain as a contemporary, “must-see” destination and encourage Americans and Canadians to travel. As well as the overall grand prize, prizes are awarded for best newspaper (750+ words), best magazine (1,000+ words), best broadcast (3+ minutes) and best online article or blog (250+ words) and entrants can submit as many items as they wish. The 2009 awards will be presented at a special luncheon in New York City in February, 2010, when VisitBritain also unveils tourism developments for the year ahead.

“We get a wealth of great entries for the awards every year, and it lets us thank those who report so successfully about Britain as a destination,” says Paul Gauger, director of regional media relations, VisitBritain Americas.

Open to travel writers and broadcasters living in the United States and Canada, past entries have appeared in such distinguished publications as Departures, National Geographic Traveler, Town & Country Travel, Gourmet, The New York Times, the Chicago-Sun-Times, the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle, Bon Appétit and the Cincinnati Enquirer.

For further guidance on what and how to enter before the closing date of 4 December 2009, visit www.visitbritain.us/awards

If you have not already sent in your entries, please do so NOW!

Thank you,
Karen Misuraca
Contest Chairperson
kmworld@vom.com

New Deadline: Sept. 15

BATW Best 2010

Planet Earth 2010

Submit your best works, as published over the last two years. Judges will include print and online editors from around the country; cash prizes and/or travel packages will be awarded. For complete information and rules: www.batw.org/news/batw-news/2010-contest-rules/

Why Enter BATW Best 2010?

1. To become an award-winning writer/photographer

2. Showcase your work to prominent editors/judges

3. As a winner, get promoted nationwide to newspaper and magazine editors

4. Support your professional organization

5. As a winner, have your work showcased on the BATW Web site

6. PRIZES!

Cash prizes for Planet Earth and lots of valuable prizes for BATW Best, including Greater Bay Area lodgings, tours, attractions and restaurants:

* 2 nights at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa

* 2 nights and brunch at the Palace Hotel

* overnight at a Wine Country B&B with a cooking class

* tickets to Teatro ZinZanni

* tickets to A.C.T. performances

* two nights at Joie de Vivre’s Hotel Carlton

* overnight and dinner at the Westin St. Francis

* houseboat vacation valued at $1,150

* tickets for 4 to the di Rosa Preserve in the Napa Valley

and more

A stellar slate of judges is being assembled by Ellen Sarbone, to include these and others:

Al Bonowitz, Features Editor, Westways/Hawaii Westways

John Flinn, former Travel Editor, San Francisco Chronicle

Sean O’Reilly, Editor-at-Large, Travelers’ Tales

Don George, Editor, RECCE: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler; former Travel Editor, Salon Wanderlust; former Travel Editor, San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle

Nelson Alcantara, Editor, eTurbo News

Georgia Hesse, travel writer, author; former Travel Editor of the San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle

Brad Newsham, author, travel writer

Tom Graves, professional photographer

Nelson Alcantara, professional photographer

Sandie Wernick, Wernick Marketing Group

Laurie Armstrong, SFCVB

Gail Lash, Founder/Executive Director of Tourism For Peace

Louis D’Amore, Founder/President of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT)

Heidi Zuhl, Graham & Associates

BATW Best Awards are for BATW members only.  Planet Earth Awards are open to all writers.

Remember: The new deadline is September 15, 2009.

The categories include:

Destination Story
The best story about a place that captures its essence and reveals its attractions, making the reader want to go there

Adventure Travel
The best story of high adventure, danger, or physical challenge

Funny Travel
The funniest account of a misadventure or an essay about how the world can make us laugh at ourselves and those around us

Women’s Travel
The best account by a woman of an encounter or experience on the road

Bad Trip
The best account of when things go wrong, or the shadow side of a culture or individual

Travel and Transformation
The best story about the inner journey or pilgrimage, whether religious, mystical, psychological, or emotional

Travel and Food
The best story where food or drink plays a role in introducing the traveler to a foreign culture or new friends

Doing Good or the Kindness of Strangers
The most inspiring tale of aid, comfort, philanthropy, or caring for others in faraway places, or of being the recipient of a stranger’s largesse

Culture and Ideas
The best story or essay about how art, history, currents events, fashion, or music affected a traveler or a trip

Family Travel
The best story about traveling with family of all generations—grandparents, parents, children, cousins, siblings—or journeying to discover roots

Love Story: The best account of love or romance on the road

Cruise Story: The best account of a trip on the water in any vessel, from the smallest kayak to the largest ship

Most Unforgettable Character: The story that best captures how one individual or group of people affected a traveler in a meaningful way

Travel and Sports: The best account of a sports activity while traveling, such as climbing, rafting, sailing, trekking, swimming, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, skiing, baseball, Frisbee, polo, basketball

Travel and Shopping: The best account of a shopping, bargaining, or haggling experience in a market, bazaar, outlet, or mall, anywhere in the world

Travel and Healing: The best story about visits with shamans, healers, holy men and women, or holy sites in search of a cure for illness or psychological malady

Travel Memoir: The best story that draws heavily on the writer’s past to make a point or reveal the lessons of a lifetime

Elder Travel: The best story from a traveler 65 years of age or older

Young Traveler: The best story from a young person (aged 18-25) taking time off to travel between high school and college, or during breaks

Animal Encounter: The best account of meeting snakes, elephants, rhinos, gorillas, birds, or other creatures

Men’s Travel: The best account by a man of a testosterone-fueled encounter or experience on the road

Grand Prizes for Best Travel Story of the Year:
$1,000 Gold
$750 Silver
$500 Bronze