The Prizes Gain Momentum and Critical Reception

The newly launched Ilse Schwepcke Prizes have entered the literary landscape and are generating a buzz. Since their launch at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the prizes have received coverage from publications like The Bookseller and Publishers Weekly.

The Bookseller highlighted the origins of the awards, noting Ilse’s legacy as ‘a “devotee” of travel writing, a feminist and founding editor of the Armchair Traveller series.’ Similarly, Feuilleton Frankfurt, a prominent German magazine, ran a feature on the prizes, applauding the ‘feisty female energy’ behind them and celebrating ‘[Ilse’s] impressive personality and work.’ Critics have recognised that the prizes honours Ilse, a powerful woman of the past, but also serve as inspiration for a future generation of women travel writers.
 
Travel writing has long been dominated by a series of iconic male authors: Bruce Chatwin, Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, to name just a few, whose work has inspired countless readers to explore the world. However, an important question is raised – why haven’t female travel writers achieved the same recognition and prominence? The Ilse Schwepcke Prizes seek to tackle this issue head on and to supply underrepresented female voices with the platform they deserve. Importantly, they seek to prove that women can offer perspectives as compelling and engaging as those of their male counterparts.

The Ilse Schwepcke Prize is launched alongside its German-language sister award, Der Ilse Schwepcke Preis, which emphasises the international spirit of this initiative. Women’s writing is to be embraced across cultures and languages. Moreover, these two prizes are highly relevant in today’s political landscape. As Barbara Schwepcke – daughter of Ilse Schwepcke and the prize’s co-founder – observes, we live in a world where ‘women’s rights are under attack in many places.’ Barbara claims that ‘it’s never been more important to read women’s experiences as travellers and to affirm women’s right to travel.’ Thus, the prizes hope to redress longstanding gender imbalances in travel literature while championing women’s autonomy to interpret the world and to share commanding stories.