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Published: 24 Nov 2023 238 views
In 2014, after the death of Michael Jacobs, the Gabo Foundation and the Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias took the initiative to organize the Michael Jacobs Scholarship for travel chronicles. This year, commemorating 10 years since the death of the English writer, a new edition of the call opens, which is financed by the Michael Jacobs Foundation for Travel Writing, a non-profit organization created by the widow and brother of Michael in order to honor his legacy and promote travel writing in Spain and Latin America.
The scholarship, which reaches its tenth edition with the purpose of encouraging travel writing, will award $10,000 for a travel book or article project about Latin America or Spain, to be published in Spanish or English.
The jury, which this year includes two new members, will take into account the narrative quality and journalistic depth of the projects when choosing the winner. For Michael Jacobs, travel journalism went beyond simple anecdotal experience and that is why works capable of awakening the five senses and opening the mind of any reader are sought.
“Travel writing can enrich our understanding of the world in a unique way. Having the potential to encompass so many different forms of writing, from autobiography to fiction, from journalism to history, it allows authors to explore ideas and disciplines with a freedom that would not be possible within a more academic context.”
This is how Michael Jacobs defined what was his great passion and to which he dedicated much of his life: travel writing. Jacobs was born in Italy in 1952, lived his youth in England and then traveled to different parts of the world and dedicated himself to researching and writing about Spain and Latin America, until he became considered a notable Hispanicist and passionate about Spanish culture.
Although he studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute, he decided to abandon his career to dedicate himself to writing. After writing several books on art, he published Andalusia, the first of the many books that he would dedicate to that region of Spain and the one he later chose to establish his residence, specifically in a small town in the province of Jaén called Frailes. . In The Factory of Light, Jacobs narrates what his first five years were like in that town of less than 2,000 inhabitants.
In 2003 he published Ghost Train Through the Andes, the story of his trip through Chile and Bolivia, recreating the love story of his grandparents, in the middle of a train trip through the Andes, the Antofagasta region. and Potosí.
But Michael Jacobs' charm for the Hispanic world was so great that the small town of Frailes became his Macondo, and perhaps that is why the day he met Gabo at a Hay Festival in Cartagena marked his life so much. who shared with him his memories of the Magdalena River, which Jacobs was obsessed with. That meeting with García Márquez motivated the Englishman to make a journey the following year along the most important river artery in Colombia, a trip that he recounted in The Thief of Memories, his latest book, where in addition to talking about the journey he makes a nostalgic remembrance of his relationship with his parents and his childhood.
Today Jacobs is a world reference when it comes to talking about travel journalism and his work is embedded in the canons of travel journalism. Michael Jacobs passed away in London on January 11, 2014, leaving behind an unrivaled and evocative legacy.
Mission Foster active and better-informed citizens by training and encouraging journalists, and promoting the ethical and creative use of the power to tell and share stories, inspired by the legacy of Gabriel García Márquez and his workshop method. Vision In 2023, the Gabo Foundation will be a solid, innovative and sustainable institution, globally recognized for contributing to better journalism in Ibero-American countries and for its territorial impact, in cultural incidence and educational innovation with children and youth, in Cartagena and the Colombian Caribbean . ... continue reading
| Application Deadline | 15 Dec 2023 |
| Country to study | Colombia |
| Type | Contest |
| Sponsor | Gabo Foundation |
| Gender | Men and Women |
The winner receives
The sum of $10,000 as an incentive to finance the research and writing of your article or book. The amount includes the taxes that must be paid by the beneficiary and the convening institutions. The scholarship will be awarded as follows: half ($5,000) when the winner is announced and the second half ($5,000) when the project is completed and delivered to the publisher for publication.
The winner will be invited to participate as a jury for the next edition of the Michael Jacobs Travel Chronicle Scholarship.
Important: only online registrations made through the registration form on the Gabo Foundation website will be valid until Friday , December 15, 2023, at 11:59 pm (Colombian time).
The official announcement of the winner will be made at the Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias 2024, which will take place from January 25 to 28.
To register for the Michael Jacobs Travel Chronicle Scholarship, follow the following steps:
1. Click on the fuchsia "Register me" button.
2. Log in to our application platform or, if you do not have an account yet, register with your email, Facebook or Google account
3. Fill out the form shown on the platform and attach the required documents mentioned in 'Requirements to apply'.
4. Click send.
For more detials visit: Gabo Foundation website.