Unpacked by AFAR · Thursday, August 13, 2026
Livia Spaldin, editor of the 'Best Women's Travel Writing' anthology series, discusses the process of selecting essays from thousands of submissions. She highlights her personal connection to the writing and how themes emerge organically from the collected stories.
“This time I got 1600 submissions all told.”
“I think that there are certain stories that I know from the first read that it's just a slam dunk. Um, because I'm so moved by it. It makes me cry and laugh and think.”
“Well, I never have a theme in mind when I'm compiling the edition, but often a theme will emerge. Maybe if I had to say a theme, maybe flashes of insight.”