Travis Elborough

Call Me Ishmaelle

Reimagining the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Xiaolu Guo has crafted a dramatically different, feminist narrative that stands alongside the original while offering a powerful exploration of nature, gender and human purpose.

As the American Civil War breaks out in 1861, Ishmaelle – a young woman disguised as a cabin boy – boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors in Polynesian harpooner, Kauri, and Taoist monk, Muzi, whose readings of the I-Ching guide their quest.

Through the bloody male violence of whaling, and the unveiling of her feminine identity, Ishmaelle realises there is a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale.

Xiaolu will be in conversation with Travis Elborough, the author of numerous books including, most recently, Writers’ Journeys That Shaped Our World, beautiful illustrated atlas that follows in the footsteps of some of the world’s most famous authors on the journeys that inspired their greatest works.

https://www.hatchards.co.uk/events/an-evening-with-xiaolu-guo-at-hatchards-piccadilly