Destination Uruguay

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Dear reader

When I went to Vietnam a few years ago, I took along the Lonely Planet Guide. As a consequence, my whole experience was shaped by what was in the Guide. If it wasn't in the Guide, I didn't see it. I love the Lonely Planet Guides, have met Tom and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet (at a travel writing seminar at the Writers' Centre in Melbourne, VIC, Australia), and am a great admirer of their achievements. But this time, I'm going to do things differently.

In the months leading up to our departure, this blog will focus on the various things I plan to do in preparation for Destination Uruguay. One of them is to read Uruguay: Portrait of a Democracy, by Russell H. Fitzgibbon (George Allen and Unwin, 1956). Why this particular title? Because it's the only book on Uruguay on Guapo's bookshelf. But my most important source of information is Guapo, who was born in Uruguay, and his circle of old school friends.

Uruguayan Writers and Literary Traditions

The internet is also a great source of information, and I've already found a list of well-known writers here:



What really interests me is the gaucho literary tradition in Argentina and Uruguay


If there's an equivalent cowboy or jackeroo literary tradition, then I'm not aware of it, although there's a lot of Australian bush poetry for anyone interested in that particular genre.

Bye for now.

Guapita

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