Wandering Women

“Let women stay at home and hold their peace,” says a male character in Aeschylus’ play Seven Against Thebes, written in 467 B.C. Wandering Women have been ignoring his advice ever since. In this talk Margo Hammond, a world traveler and writer herself, will introduce you to a whole cast of journeywomen who neither stayed home nor held their tongues. Like British travel writer Freya Stark who was one of the first Westerners to explore southern Arabia (and who continued to travel and write until her death at 100). And Cheryl Strayed who hiked 1,100 mile solo along the Pacific Crest Trail after the death of her mother, and wrote about how it allowed her to reinvent herself (including giving herself a new name). Learn about these intrepid female travelers who trekked around the world and wrote about it and be inspired to write down the stories of your own journeys.

(8/23/2023 update. Time changed to 10:30 a.m.)