Indian writer Taran Khan won the 2021 Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year prize for her debut book, Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul. The award was announced in association with the Authors' Club and is named after Edward Stanford, who published Stanford’s Guides travel guide-books, a Scroll report said.
The book won among seven other nominations, including The Border by Erika Fatland, Without Ever Reaching The Summit by Paolo Cognetti, Wanderland by Jini Reddy, Travelling While Black by Nanjala Nyabola, The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts, Along the Amber Route by CJ Schuler and Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght.
Shadow City takes the reader on a journey through the streets of Kabul as Khan walks around the city and uncovers a place quite different from the one she anticipated, the Stanfords Travel said.
Lucy Popescu, chair of the Authors’ Club, commented, “Taran transports us to Kabul. This is a profound, beautifully written meditation on an ever-changing city, scarred by war, its people ever hopeful of a better future. It moved me to tears.”
"We enjoyed the weaving of Khan’s personal and family story with her observations and clear affection for the city," Julia Wheeler, chair of the Stanford Dolman judges said. "That Khan’s journeys were made over several years allows the myriad faces of Kabul to emerge and her interactions with individuals create meaningful and memorable pictures for the reader."
