'Stranger's Guide' Travel Brand Staffs Up, Promotes Local Perspectives

Stranger’s Guide, the publisher of comprehensive travel books that employ place-based journalism to break down stereotypes and foster global citizenship through deep dives into specific regions, is rounding out its editorial team.

Emily Nemens joins as a senior editor covering sports and Anushree Kaushal joins as a senior editor. In addition, Alexis Madrigal, Garnette Cadogan, Martín Perna and Lola Shoneyin come on board as contributing editors.

Stranger’s Guide, based in Austin, was launched in 2018 by Editor in Chief Kira Brunner Don, former executive editor of Lapham’s Quarterly, and publisher Abby Rapoport, the former acting publisher for the Texas Observer. The company specializes in nuanced portraits of the places it covers, including, Lagos, Nigeria, South Korea, the Mediterranean, Tehran, Scandinavia and Texas. The next issue, due on November 30, will explore California.

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Each guide combines long-form writing, vivid photography and an astute editorial voice to depict a single location. It seeks to build a collective portrait centered on original works from local voices. Reports cross genres from investigative journalism to literary travel and cover diverse topics, from arts and sports to conflict and migration.

In 2021, Stranger’s Guide won two National Magazine Awards for photography and general excellence.

Previous issues have included Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka recalling Nigeria's colonial past, Dan Rather and other Texans predicting the state's future, the Washington Post’s Jason Rexaian highlighting Tehran’s hidden food spots, Edwidge Danticat on the trash that washes up on Haiti’s shores, and fiction from Valeria Luiselli — in addition to a never-before-published-in-English series from Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

“We thrive on local perspectives and the deep knowledge of our editorial staff and contributors and welcome these distinguished professionals to our team,” stated Brunner Don. “Each person brings unique insights which will further develop the eccentric and intimate stories we tell.”

Stranger's Guide is distributed at Barnes & Noble, Whole Foods, independent bookstores, and through partnerships with organizations from Bogotá to Lagos.

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