Review of The Writer's Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands

Abstract

"The Writer's Map is an atlas of the journeys that our most creative storytellers have made throughout their lives. This 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. " -- Publisher's description. 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.