About Writing Across Borders: Capturing Humanity with Local Nuance

Write travel stories that reveal our shared humanity while honouring each place’s unique flavour.

What unites people across borders, languages, and eras? And how can writers capture both our shared humanity and the nuances that make each place unique? In this session, Vítor Vicente explores a people-first approach to travel and cross-cultural writing. Drawing from years of living across Europe and writing memoirs that honour identities, he shows how universal human experiences—fear, joy, loss, belonging—can anchor your stories, while attentive observation brings specificity and authenticity. You’ll learn techniques to portray real people with respect, avoid clichés, and write across borders with boldness, depth, and purpose. Perfect for memoirists, essayists, and travel writers.