The Writer 11.2019

38 | The Writer • November 2019

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

BY MELISSA HART INSIDE LITERARY MAGAZINES

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T

he website homepage for
the travel magazine Hid-
den Compass features a
manifesto of sorts. Editors
Sabine Bergmann and Sivani Babu
explain, in a piece titled “The Age of
Audacity,” how they grew up pretend-
ing to be astronauts at space camp
and launching rockets in their back-
yards, thrilled by possibility in the
wake of the Space Race.
“We want it back,” they write. “We

want to live in a world where the names

of astronauts, explorers, scientists and

inventors roll off our tongues as easily

as the names of the Kardashians. We’re

willing to bet that we’re not alone.”

When Bergmann and Babu founded

Hidden Compass in 2017, they wanted

to create a travel magazine different

from those that report on perfect vaca-

tion spots and how to take a cruise.

“We’re not afraid to bring in other

genres and topics like science, history,

and art,” Bergmann explains. “We pub-

lish historical pieces that take place in

different eras, stories that include anal-

ysis of a particular painting. Our writ-

ers and photographers geek out on

very specific and scientific things.”

Tone, editorial content

The editors gravitate toward first-per-

son journalistic travel stories that

blend reportage with personal experi-

ence – stories like “You Should Be

Hidden Compass

’Our publication sees travel as exploration rather than vacation,’

say the editors of this in-depth travel magazine.

Sabine Bergmann and Sivani Babu, co-editors/co-founders of Hidden Compass.