Pratt, Alexandra (J.) 1974-

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PRATT, Alexandra (J.) 1974-

PERSONAL: Born January 26, 1974, in England; daughter of Graham and Christina Pratt; companion of Stuart Seear. Ethnicity: "English." Education: University of Sussex, B.A. (with honors), 1996; also attended George Washington University. Hobbies and other interests: Indigenous peoples, conservation, walking, travel, music, dancing.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cornwall, England. Agent— Amanda Preston, Sheil Land Associates, 43 Doughty St., London, England. E-mail—alexandra.pratt@virgin. net.

CAREER: Freelance writer; also worked in public relations and as an editor. West Country Impressions (commercial photograph library), proprietor. Lecturer at University of Bristol, Falmouth College of Arts, and Cornwall College. Volunteer worker in North America and Central America.

MEMBER: National Union of Journalists, Friends of the Earth.

AWARDS, HONORS: Spirit of Adventure Award, Captain Scott Society, 2000; Wilderness Award, Himalayan Kingdom, 2000; grant from 211 Foundation for Space Technology.

WRITINGS:

Discovery Walks in Cornwall, Sigma Press (Wilmslow, Cheshire, England), 1998.

History of Porthleven, privately printed [England], 1999.

Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories: A Woman's Journey to the Heart of Labrador, HarperCollins Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Contributor to books, including Celtic Way, edited by V. S. Evans, Sigma Press (Wilmslow, Cheshire, England), 1998; and to the "Rough Guides" series of travel guidebooks. Contributor to periodicals, including BBC History, Paddler, Homes Overseas, and Ottawa Citizen. Editor, Hypatia Trust Newsletter, 1999-2000.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Real Treasure Island, a travel history, completion expected in 2004; research on the environment, peoples, and politics of Russian Central Asia.

SIDELIGHTS: Alexandra Pratt told CA: "I began writing at the age of four, and I've never really stopped since. By the age of nine, I had started my third novel, but it is nonfiction that has become my passion and brought me success as an adult.

"After graduating from the University of Sussex, I began my career as a writer almost immediately. I also traveled extensively, finding myself busking in British Columbia, working as a volunteer in a rainforest in Central America, and as a researcher for the guidebook company Rough Guides, which took me to northern Spain. I have also lived in Vancouver in Canada and in Washington, D.C.

"After sleeping everywhere from the open deck of an Alaskan ferry to a wooden mattress in a Hong Kong hotel, a bed of spruce boughs in a tent in Labrador was luxury! My expedition in the province, which forms the basis of my book Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories: A Woman's Journey to the Heart of Labrador was recognized with several awards in the United Kingdom and the United States. The grants that accompanied these awards were vital to the trip and their moral support kept me going when little else seemed to go right.

"Lost Lands was a turning point in my writing career. My experiences in Labrador provided unexpected inspiration and gave my work a new direction and depth. Issues such as indigenous rights, environmentalism, and their relationship to broader questions of globalization provided the impetus to go beyond the simple adventure story. Consequently, Lost Lands was not the book I had planned and was all the better for it.

"I am motivated by an interest in almost everything (which is both absorbing and exhausting) and a desire to tell the stories that lie behind the picture postcards."