Write around the world - the map!

Find out more about The Open University's Creative writing courses and qualifications.

Discover birthplaces and resting-places of authors and the stories behind their books. Go long-haul to a palace in 11th century Japan, and staycation in a converted garage in 20th century Wales. Peep into writers’ bedrooms and studies to imagine them at work. Explore the extraordinary places that have inspired writers: Vesuvius, the Silk Road, the Outback and the fairy-tale forests of Germany. Along the way you will discover the astonishing variety of ways that books have brought places into being, filling them with the power of lived experience, imagination and story.

Click on the book icons in the two maps below to start your journey. Suggest other locations in the comments section at the bottom of this page.