Writer Maureen Fant Speaks to Travel Writing Class

"Never forget that 1) you and the editors want the same thing-to publish what people will want to read; 2) that editors have all the power, but 3) the author gets all the glory." Wise and witty advice indeed.

On April 7th, author, editor, translator, Manhattan native, and longtime Rome resident Maureen B. Fant spoke to the Travel Writing class and gave concrete and inspiring advice to all who would like to see their words in print. Fant, co-author of the scholarly Women's Life in Greece and Rome and author of the beautiful Rome volume in the Williams-Sonoma Foods of the World series, began as a classics major, which she said gives one wonderful mental training for editing.

She shared her experience and her wisdom gained from writing travel and food pieces for dozens of publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. "No one owes you a reading," she said, emphasizing that writers must respect their first audience, the editors, and their needs, adding that writers should "understand and respect who you are writing for." Her talk was filled with such nuggets of wisdom, as well as experiences such as her first non-academic piece, when she took advantage of the Animal House-inspired toga party craze to write a piece on the history and meaning, and the proper wearing, of togas in ancient Rome.

The Travel Writing class is a new addition to the Rome semester. A one-hour class taught by Dr. Greg Roper, it focuses on the students learning from excellent models and developing their own portfolio of writings about their own experiences during the Rome semester.

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