THE WRITER'S MAP by Huw Lewis-Jones and THE ATLAS OF UNUSUAL BORDERS by Zoran Nikolic — reviewed by Stella

The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands by Huw Lewis-Jones

What could be better than opening a new book to find a map of a yet-to-be-discovered world? If you were a child like me, you would have spent as many hours looking at the map and imagining yourself in it as you would have done reading (and re-reading) the book itself. From Milly Molly Mandy’s village — her home, the house that little friend Susan lived in, where they picked berries, the village green where the fete would be — to the land of Narnia through the wardrobe, maps in books were a key that opened a portal to the worlds beyond home, school and the dreariness of the ‘real’ world. Finding a Moomin book in the deaccessioned shelf at the public library was a discovery in itself, but that it included an amazing and delightful world, with a detailed map, was unforgettable. Maps still have that fascination and I never tire of atlases. There’s something about imagining oneself elsewhere. The Writer’s Map is a beautifully illustrated atlas of literary maps, edited by historian Huw Lewis-Jones, with accompanying insightful essays from writers, designers, and illustrators. They talk about the influence of maps on their own work, the importance of map-making in creating plot and place, and the wondrous spaces, emotional and physical, where maps have taken and continue to take them. Philip Pullman, the creator of Northern Lights, opens with an essay entitled 'A Plausible Possible', where he describes creating a map for a book he wrote called The Tin Princess. To create a plausible scenario for his princess, Adelaide, he needed a possible world where the plot could play out. Other authors in the book write about the relationship between map-making and fiction: David Mitchell sketches and draws maps for his books, even though these do not appear in the finished novels. There are examples from his private notebooks showing islands, mountain trails, and fortifications. “Maps of fictitious places are maps of mind. You lose yourself in them and find, if not factual truth, then other kinds.” Brian Selznick, the author/illustrator of several amazing books, remembers his fascination with the anatomy section of his Golden Encyclopedia, with its mapping of the human bodies, and all the pathways of connected systems played out with layered acetate sheets. As a ten-year-old, he had a major operation, one that he recovered slowly from. Drawing was his world and continued to be so. “We all end up drawing the maps to our own futures, though we usually don’t know it at the time.” The book is split into four sections, 'Make Believe', with introductory essays from Huw Lewis-Jones and Brian Sibley; 'Writing Maps', with author contributions; 'Creating Maps', with contributions from illustrators and designers; and Reading Maps. Many of the contributors draw on their childhood memories and their love of books and maps, and how these influenced their own work. References include Treasure Island, Middle-earth, Narnia, and Moomin Valley. They also outline their journeys as map-makers, storytellers, and creators of imaginary worlds. The Writer’s Map is lavishly illustrated and a pleasure to read. It will have you wanting to delve into an imaginary world immediately or to take up your pencil to draw your very own. Highly recommended for lovers of books and maps. 

The Atlas of Unusual Borders by Zoran Nikolic

Here’s one for the curious and for those who love the strange histories of borders. Why are there odd pockets of land surrounded by another country? How did an action a thousand years old, possibly a whim, remain relevant and intact? Why do people with so much in common make life so complicated? And what happens when mistakes are made on paper? What are the stories behind the quirks of territorial demarcation?  In this wonderfully fascinating book, Zoran Nikolic takes us into the world of enclaves and exclaves, the finer points of unusual geography, and the heady politics, as well as arbitrary nature, of borderlines. There are over 40 places, each with tales and maps, alongside snippets about island enclaves in rivers and lakes, ghost towns, border quadripoints, and unusual capitals. Where did I go first? To Cyprus, to discover a little more. While I knew that it is split in two — north and south — and that there was/is a UN buffer zone, and that there were British military bases there, I hadn’t realised the border implications of this beyond the obvious. At 9,250 square kilometres (that’s roughly the same size as Tasman region) the Mediterranean island consists of four political territories and numerous borders. There is a southern enclave in the north — a village mistakenly not occupied in 1974. And there is a Turkish village enclave in the south now with only a small Turkish garrison. The two British military bases are their own territories, with one of them split into two with a communications station in a nearby village connected by a narrow road of sorts — another strip of British territory. There is the ghost town, once luxury resort, of Varosia. The UN Green Line still exists but it is demilitarised and has a population of about 10,000 and a UN force of roughly 1000. It’s a semi-open buffer zone mostly used for farming, but retains elements of abandonment, and still plays a role in keeping the peace. Each place Nikolic takes us to has a story, quirky facts, and sometimes convoluted histories. There is the Bosnian wedding gift village that now sits in Serbia. They pay taxes to Bosnia, but utility bills to Serbia. There is the all-male population of Mt Athos and the man-made Oil Rocks industrial town in the middle of the sea. There is the German Green Belt which belongs to nature, and the Australian Island aptly named Border Island because the line runs right through it. It’s a rock in a windswept sea! Intriguing and endlessly diverting, this is an enjoyable book to lose yourself in, and discover something unusual.