2025 Shortlist
We are thrilled to reveal the shortlist for the inaugural Ilse Schwepcke Prize for women’s travel writing. Over the summer, our jurors selected four outstanding books to make the shortlist. These remarkable authors have displayed the adventurous spirit, literary finesse, and perceptive insight that the Prize was founded to celebrate.
Shop the shortlist on Bookshop.org
Anima
Kapka Kassabova
Over the course of one summer, Kapka Kassabova lives with perhaps the last true pastoralists in Europe. She joins the epic seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs, to find pasture in the mountains. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this isolated existence, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of this small community. ‘Anima’ is a spellbinding portrayal of the human–animal interdependence in pastoral life, and a plea for a different way of living – one where we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world.
Dust and Pomegranates
Victoria Whitworth
From a magical childhood in Kenya, through misery at an American high school, to rescue by an inspirational teacher in England, Victoria Whitworth weaves a sublimely rich narrative, which is both an ode to her beloved Greece and Corfu, and a highly original exploration of myth and legend. Her adventures in the often weird and unsettling world of a Corinth English language school, and the shattering experience of her rape by a Greek taxi driver, lead Victoria to question some deeply familiar stories. Did Agamemnon really kill his daughter Iphigenia, so the wind would fill their sails for Troy? Was beautiful Helen of Troy a powerful enchantress? Or a tragic victim? Was Theseus, the Minotaur slayer, a superhero, or a predatory rapist? Or were they all of these things? This beautiful memoir asks repeatedly where truth lies, and how, as women, we can survive violence and conquer fear.
One Ukrainian Summer
Viv Groskop
Autumn 1993. The former USSR. Viv is about to turn 21 and is on a study year abroad, supposedly immersed in the language, history and politics of a world that has just ceased to exist: the Soviet Union. Instead, she finds herself immersed in Bogdan Bogdanovich – the lead guitarist of a Ukrainian punk rock band. As the temperature drops, he promises that if she can get through the freezing Russian winter, he will give her 'one Ukrainian summer'. But is he serious about her? Or is she just another groupie? At parties, gigs and dive bars, Viv and her new friends argue over whose turn it is to buy cigarettes, the best places to find Levi's jeans and whether beer counts as a soft drink. No-one debates the merits of speaking Ukrainian over Russian, the precise location of the border or the undeniable brightness of the future. Of course good times are here to stay. Because the Soviet Union is finished. Isn't it? A poignant and often comical account of coming-of-age in the time after the Cold War and before Putin, One Ukrainian Summer is a love letter to a unique moment in history.
One Woman Walks Europe
Ursula Martin
Join Ursula Martin on an epic 5500-mile trek across Europe in ‘One Woman Walks Europe’, an adventurous tale of endurance and self-discovery. An exhilarating journey into the wild nature of land and her own spirit; the survival of walking and wild camping in remote rural areas leads to a deep, grounded connection with the landscape and Ursula’s own body. Pushing through fear and exhaustion, her limitations were tested as she grappled with the quest for home and belonging, realising how much she needs community and relationships, while pushing them away.
From the jurors
‘It has been a great honour to be on the judging panel for the first Ilse Schwepcke Prize, and an inspiration to read our way through such a strong and varied selection of writing by women of all ages. Taken together, the books had much to teach us about courage, resilience and determination. They captured the many and varied creative responses of women to the world. Some interrogated the same important themes, such as climate change, pandemic and sadly, trauma and sexual violence, as well as reminding us of the thrill of a first foreign adventure and the enduring beauty of the natural world. It was a struggle to draw up a short list from this rich mix, but nevertheless we were unanimous in our choices.’