The Writer’s Map
An Atlas of Imaginary Lands
9780226596631
The Writer’s Map
An Atlas of Imaginary Lands
It’s one of the first things we discover as children, reading and drawing: Maps have a unique power to transport us to distant lands on wondrous travels. Put a map at the start of a book, and we know an adventure is going to follow. Displaying this truth with beautiful full-color illustrations, The Writer’s Map is an atlas of the journeys that our most creative storytellers have made throughout their lives. This magnificent 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.
Philip Pullman recounts the experience of drawing a map as he set out on one of his early novels, The Tin Princess. Miraphora Mina recalls the creative challenge of drawing up ”The Marauder’s Map” for the Harry Potter films. David Mitchell leads us to the Mappa Mundi by way of Cloud Atlas and his own sketch maps. Robert Macfarlane reflects on the cartophilia that has informed his evocative nature writing, which was set off by Robert Louis Stevenson and his map of Treasure Island. Joanne Harris tells of her fascination with Norse maps of the universe. Reif Larsen writes about our dependence on GPS and the impulse to map our experience. Daniel Reeve describes drawing maps and charts for The Hobbit film trilogy. This exquisitely crafted and illustrated atlas explores these and so many more of the maps writers create and are inspired by—some real, some imagined—in both words and images.
Amid a cornucopia of 167 full-color images, we find here maps of the world as envisaged in medieval times, as well as maps of adventure, sci-fi and fantasy, nursery rhymes, literary classics, and collectible comics. An enchanting visual and verbal journey, The Writer’s Map will be irresistible for lovers of maps, literature, and memories—and anyone prone to flights of the imagination.
Philip Pullman recounts the experience of drawing a map as he set out on one of his early novels, The Tin Princess. Miraphora Mina recalls the creative challenge of drawing up ”The Marauder’s Map” for the Harry Potter films. David Mitchell leads us to the Mappa Mundi by way of Cloud Atlas and his own sketch maps. Robert Macfarlane reflects on the cartophilia that has informed his evocative nature writing, which was set off by Robert Louis Stevenson and his map of Treasure Island. Joanne Harris tells of her fascination with Norse maps of the universe. Reif Larsen writes about our dependence on GPS and the impulse to map our experience. Daniel Reeve describes drawing maps and charts for The Hobbit film trilogy. This exquisitely crafted and illustrated atlas explores these and so many more of the maps writers create and are inspired by—some real, some imagined—in both words and images.
Amid a cornucopia of 167 full-color images, we find here maps of the world as envisaged in medieval times, as well as maps of adventure, sci-fi and fantasy, nursery rhymes, literary classics, and collectible comics. An enchanting visual and verbal journey, The Writer’s Map will be irresistible for lovers of maps, literature, and memories—and anyone prone to flights of the imagination.
256 pages | 220 color plates | 8 1/4 x 11 3/4 | © 2018
Geography: Cartography
Literature and Literary Criticism: British and Irish Literature, General Criticism and Critical Theory
Reviews
Table of Contents
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
CONTRIBUTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FURTHER READING
SOURCES OF QUOTATIONS
SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INDEX
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
CONTRIBUTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FURTHER READING
SOURCES OF QUOTATIONS
SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INDEX
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