Books from Steve Bonham

Let me introduce myself. I am a writer, musician and performer. Local to Derbyshire and still living here. For many years I have been a bit of a vagabond heading out, mostly on my two feet, along the backways and byways. There is a ‘truth’ in journeying that I find compelling - to take to the trail ‘opens’ you out to chance and serendipity  - the wonderful world of accidental meetings and encounters. It’s about getting the dirt under your finger nails, the blisters on your feet in the  quixotic compelling attempt to see the world through other eyes. This has led me to being followed by Moroccan secret police down the Draa valley dressed in djellabahs riding Velocette motor bikes, sleeping in hollowed out mound of ice called a quinzee on the frozen lakes of Ontario and riding around Greek islands on a motorbike with my underpants drying on the handlebars. The outputs of this? Not so much travel books as much as explorations in the form of prose, songs and poetry.  And explorations in turn, not so much of places, but ideas. My last book, A Little Nostalgia for Freedom was  described as: “beguiling blend of travelogue , psychology and the philosophy of identity” (Wigtown Book Festival). My latest  is A Beautiful Broken Dream - a trip in search of America through the Appalachian Mountains and a road trip to Asheville; Nashville and New Orleans.

"The gift of all great artists is to find the universal in the specific, to discover the hidden yet expanding resonances in the smallest details of existence.  Steve is an everyman, with highly personal stories that chime with us all."
Jason Webster