Kim Fay

"... a refreshing addition to the traveler's bookshelf ... evocative and eclectic ..." - Chic Travel Thailand, March 2007

"... a guide with depth and color that most of [its] competitors lack ..." - Thai Day (International Herald Tribune), December 2005

"... breaks new ground in the travel writing field ..." - Untamed Travel, November 2005

"... a delightful introduction to Cambodia and the Mekong region for those looking for some inspiration and adventure." - Lonely Planet Cambodia, 2005

Although my first romance with travel took place during a post-college summer in Europe, it was a schoolgirl crush. I returned for flings with Sweden and Holland, but didn't know true passion until I arrived in Thailand in the early 1990s. I was more than smitten. I was head over heels. I believe that every person has a part of the world that is in harmony with something deep in his or her soul, and this was MINE. I couldn't stay away ... Borneo, Singapore, Bali, more Thailand, and finally, I moved to Vietnam, where my spirit felt--from the moment I arrived--that it had come home. During the next four years in Saigon, I learned, loved, ached, ate and wrote and wrote and wrote. It was here that I began the career I had wanted ever since I was a child, and that will carry me into old age. My labors are labors of love. I am fortunate. I have the best job in the world. I am a travel writer.

- Everything by Graham Greene

- Biographies of (and non-fiction by) Martha Gellhorn, Emily Hahn & Beryl Markham

- We Regret to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with our Families, by Philip Gourevitch

- Hiroshima, by John Hersey

- Interview with History, by Oriana Fallaci

NEW FOR 2008:

The Vietnam volume for Things Asian Press' new To Asia With Love literary guidebook series is heading off to the printer and should be available in June. Next up, Myanmar, available this fall, to be followed by Japan, North India, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, and Shanghai.

Communion: A Culinary Journey through Vietnam is nearly done ... finally!

For fun, I have started a new book blog (focused mostly on classics): Literate in L.A.

Through my participation in the Amazon/Penguin Publishing Breakthrough Novel Awards, I was "found" by a wonderful agent for my novel, In Yellow Babylon. I'm now busy revising the end so that she can send it out to publishers---wish me luck!

More news to come soon ...

Kim

As of August, I have the great pleasure of working as the managing editor of To Asia With Love, a literary guidebook series for Things Asian Press. Based on my beloved To Asia With Love: A Connoisseurs’ Guide to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, the series will include Japan, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China, India, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines. Indonesia and Malaysia. The first eight books in the series will be published in the winter/spring of 2007/2008.

Part travel essay, part cookbook, part history, sociology and philosophy book, Communion: Meditations on Eating in Vietnam explores the culture of Vietnam through its intriguing culinary traditions.

With MFK Fisher aspirations---and accompanied by her photographer sister Julie and best Vietnamese girlfriend Huong—Kim Fay embarked on a five week journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Together, this trio traveled beyond the world of cyclos, conical hats and war, sampling the flavors of the country’s regions along the way. They became obsessed with clam rice in the imperial city of Hue, discovered the secret world of ragu in the French hill town of Dalat and nearly wept at the freshness of the squid in the seaside enclave of Phan Thiet. Exploring how a country eats during times of famine and feast, and how we eat reflects who we are as individuals and as communities, Fay—who lived in Vietnam for four years—provides a poetic journey and literary feast for armchair epicures.

To be published in spring 2008 by Things Asian Press.

To Asia With Love is an amazing guidebook, if I do say so myself. Fifty unique writers joined me in penning personal essays recommending favorite (and often secret) places to eat, shop, unwind, escape and play. Contributors include Lonely Planet author Joe Cummings, Rough Guide author Jan Dodd, Bangkok shopping gurus Nancy and Nima Chandler, Bangkok Post columnist Roger Crutchley and "FARANG" founder Jim Algie. The writing is singular, the recommendations are thoughtful and the full color photographs--by my sis, Julie Fay--are divine. To Asia With Love is the perfect complement to your Lonely Planet, and an ideal companion for both actual and armchair travelers.

To read more about To Asia With Love, click on More, More, More in the column on the right of this page.

When I'm traveling, I long for music to suit the solitude and restlessness that accompanies nomadic life.

- Ethiopiques #4: amazing jazz from the late sixties/early seventies Ethopia, part snake charmer, part Mancini, with hints of Miles and Hendrix thrown in.

- Talking Timbuktu, by Ali Farka Toure and Ry Cooder.

- Anything by Miles, of course, with the essentials being Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud and Sketches of Spain.

- Everything by Kris Kristofferson, divine poet and underappreciated wordsmith ... Jesus Was a Capricorn and Sunday Morning Coming Down ... Make sure not to miss his brilliant new CD, This Old Road.

- The soundtrack from City of Ghosts, with its tres cool Cambodian rendition of Both Sides Now by Dengue Fever, Cambodian rock from the sixties and a couple great old French tunes.

- Cat Stevens ... after all, Wild World pretty much says it all ...