Journeys Australian Women in Mexico

Essays and poetry by thirteen Australian travellers in Mexico.

Contributors are: Heidi Zogbaum, Lilit Thwaites, Pamela Jean Skuse, Manon Saur, Jenny Pollak, Jennifer Perkin, Jeannie Lewis, Lulu Honeywild, Jenny Cooper, Raewyn Connell, Rachael Byrne, Jacqueline Buswell and Ruth Adler.

Stories by thirteen Australian women from a range of backgrounds and professions make an atypical collection of travel writings that cover a period of fifty years. Some of the writers visited Mexico several times for work and/or pleasure; some visited then chose to remain; some returned to stay after an absence, pulled back by something Mexican which they might not be able to pin down exactly, but which they certainly feel strongly.

Not all their experiences are positive, but the impact, even if initially terrifying, is almost inevitably life affirming. Earthquakes, robberies, strange neighbours, secret police interrogations in dark underground cells, student demonstrations and violent government responses are a part of Mexico for some of these women, but so too are amazing bus trips to remote regions, stunning art, architecture and crafts, insights into pre-Columbian and present-day indigenous cultures, the Mexican people themselves - and, in some instances, falling in love with a local.

Discover a different Mexico through the words - reminiscences, letters and poems - and images of these Australian women travellers.

The recording of Jeanie's Lewis' piece, Pilgrimages, with music by Jim Cotter, can be found at: bit.ly/35PDVgi