What is Literary Tourism?

Travel trends come and go, but literary travel, or literary tourism, has always been around, even though it hasn’t always been identified with a particular name. What is new these days, is the increased interest in literary tourism by Black people and other people of color, possibly inspired by the increased interest in reading and literary culture. Personally, I have always been a literary tourist, and I’m just excited to see more people and organizations getting excited about the concept.

Something as simple as finding all of the Little Free libraries in a new city can be considered literary tourism. And it’s so satisfying.

What is Literary Tourism?

Please don’t hate me for quoting Wikipedia, but their definition of Literary Tourism is a great starting place. “Literary tourism is a type of cultural tourism that deals with places and events from literary texts as well as the lives of their authors. This could include visiting particular places associated with a novel or a novelist, such as a writer's home, or grave site, following routes taken by fictional characters, visiting places mentioned in poems, as well as visiting museums dedicated to specific writers, works, regional literatures, and literary genres.”

In my own life, literary tourism can mean having one of two experiences. One experience looks like this: whenever I travel to new destinations, I search for and visit the best bookstores, libraries, literary hangouts, and/or places of significance to the writers who may have lived or worked in that place. Another option is to plan a trip specifically for the literary experience. For example, this year I plan to visit the book town of Obidos in Portugal because it is a small village that has dozens of bookstores in it, as well as a hotel dedicated to book lovers. 

Literary Tourism Isn’t New

As I mentioned before, the concept of literary tourism is far from new. People have been making pilgrimages to the sites of the birthplaces, grave sites and favorite cafes of famous authors for years. Literally years. In fact, the idea of literary tourism in this vein really took off in the 1800s. That's when people really started getting into the idea of retracing the footsteps of their favorite writers. Not surprisingly, England became a hot spot for this type of travel as people wanted to pay homage to writers like Shakepeare and the Bronte sisters. Even today, England remains a popular destination for those interested in literary tourism. 

Is Literary Tourism a White People Thing?

If you take a cyber stroll through the internet, you might think that literary tourism is a white people thing, because the examples given always seem to revolve around white authors, and yes, the United Kingdom always seems to be the destination of choice. Go to the Charles Dickens museum. Come visit the house where Jane Austen was born. Fun fact, the top three literary tourism destinations are England, Paris, and Russia, according to a study published in 2021. But white people don’t get to have all the literary tourism fun. 

First of all, you can be Black or Asian and love Shakespeare and Harry Potter. There is no shame in wanting to soak up the ambiance in Stratford-Upon-Avon while visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace, or waiting in line to enter the bookshop in Porto, Portugal that was said to have inspired J.K. Rowling’s idea of Hogwarts. Our literary tastes do not have to be racialized. But if you are interested in literary tourism with more “color,” there are plenty of options out there for you too to jump on this trend.

From Harlem to Paris, there are plenty of actual tours and tour guides that highlight the experiences of Black American writers who lived and traveled all over the world, for example. But also, there are literally 42 global cities designated by UNESCO as Cities of Literature that can be visited for their literary offerings. These cities - from Durban, South Africa, to Granada, Spain -  have earned this distinction because, among other criteria, “ Literature, drama and/or poetry play an important role in the city.” You could literally plan your next global adventures based on the “lit”cities on this list. 

Suffice it to say, there are endless ways to experience literary tourism, where writers and authors of color and indigenous authors are centered.

How to DIY Your Own Literary Travels

As BIPOC writers and readers, we may have to DIY our literary travel adventures, simply because conventional literary tours tend to focus on white writers and their work. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do a little bit of your own research and find the birthplace, favorite haunts, or final resting place of your most beloved authors of color. Remember, that’s what Alice Walker did to find the gravesite of Zora Neale Hurston in Florida. You can also look for literary festivals, book fairs, and/or events that honor your favorite scribes in cities and towns near your own home city. Literary tourism does not require airplane tickets and complicated itineraries. 

There really is no end to how you can combine your love of travel and your love of literature to make your own adventures. That’s what I plan on doing, now that I’ve moved to Spain and have more opportunities for global travel.

Everywhere I go, I’m a literary tourist, searching for the best bookstores, libraries, and paper stores to feed my passions as a writer and reader. Am I the only person who takes pictures of bookstores like they were castles in the sky?

#LiteraryTourism with Lori

Here on the blog and on my social accounts,  I will be sharing all of my #literarytourism adventures and suggested itineraries. So far I’ve created itineraries for Madrid, Marrakech, Baltimore, and The Hague.

To be honest, everywhere I go, I’m always on the lookout for quirky bookstores, local libraries, and monuments with literary significance. And of course, I’m particularly interested in visiting the places where Black American writers might have visited and found some inspiration. (You know I'm hot on the trail of finding Langston Hughes’ favorite hangouts in Spain.) I’m also making a plan to visit as many literary cities and book towns as possible in the coming years. So, yeah, I’m all over this trend, even though as I said, I think  I’ve been a literary tourist for my whole life. I’m just happy I now have a hashtag for what I love doing!

Stay tuned if you want to see where my literary travels take me next, and/or if you’re looking for ideas, inspiration or itineraries for your next literary travel adventure.