Pearson Best Travel Writer
Stephanie Pearson, a school teacher, science and freelance writer and contributing Editor to “Outside” magazine, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, won the award for Best Foreign Journalist for India. Her travel feature had appeared in the Outside Magazine. She had also travelled across Australia, Latin America to create a real-time, online curriculum for 50,000 secondary school students. After her reporting from Mount Everest base camp a summit bid by Canadian Jamie Clarke, American Scott Simper and their Sherpa she travel the Kerala, in the south of India and writes her experience on the god’s own country. Her work has been anthologised in The Best American Travel Writing and has also appeared in National Geographic Traveller, Wired, Men’s Journal, Lonely Planet Books, CNN.com, National Geographic.com, Travel_Leisure.com, Discovery.com.
She based her experiences during her three-week Onam sojourn tour, by travelling over 600 miles by car, train and houseboat on foot and Kayak, and reporting on the diverse wildlife , culture and spirituality of Kerala, one of the smallest states in India,which has a population of 35 million, and 360 miles of palm-fringed, sandy coastline of Arabian Sea, To the East the Western Ghats one of India’s seven Unesco Natural World Heritage sites, with 8, 842 foot summit of Anamudi where herds of wild elephants and solitary tigers roam the Ghats through the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. mortality rate in India, and an average life expectancy of 73. She also visits the 5000 feet elevated Munnar, the hill station among emerald green tea and Cardamon plantations,
She writes” Kerala is a laid-back tropical paradise where you can paddle hidden backwaters, trek the rugged Western Ghats,look for the tigers, indulge in ayurvedic treatments, and chill out on unspoiled beaches. Just leave your manic Western self behind”.
“ The Great Heaven will also feature in “ the best Amercian travel writing”, a book going to be published by Random House in October 2016.
Under the headline “Found:Green Heaven, an Indian Oasis, Left Behind: Your overworked Self”. Her description of Onam, a secular ten-day harvest festival, and comparison of the legendary king Mahabali, who has morphedinto an Indian version of Santa Claus, and he is said to have given every Keralite irrespective of their caste or creed-equal rights and total prosperity.
Her visit to Lake Vembanad and the Aranmula Boat Race, a 700-year-old one-mile contest that starts at the Aranmula Temple on the River Pamba, featuring 120-foot-long Palliyodams or snake boats from 48 villages infront of thousands of spectators. The traditional Onam meal, known as Sadya, wotj 26 vegetarian servings including sambar, masala curry, pappadams, Mango pickles served on banana leaf and eaten by hand.