is an outlet for four published writers. You can learn more about us by clicking our names in the left column.

But what is it?

The concept is simple enough–if you get a few interesting writers in one place, let them post about whatever’s on their minds (not just about writing), then something interesting might come of it.

So far it has. Follow the subject links under the banner to read some results.

Think of the Contemporary Nomad not as a “writer’s blog” (there are plenty of fine ones out there doing the job better than we could, or would want to), but as a general-interest site dealing with politics, writing, travel, art and culture. And hopefully we can do so in a way that provokes thoughtful discussion.

Why “Contemporary Nomad”?

The name came from discussions with Robin Hunt, who talked about the concept of the “Modern Nomad”, a person whose sense of geography and culture, because of communications technology and EasyJet access to all the corners of the globe, is something new in the world. Something interesting.

This struck me, given my limited expatriate experience, as an essential truth, and so I co-opted the title, changing ‘modern’ to ‘contemporary’ to make it more now.

But the name isn’t important. We all enjoy travel, and have lived for extended periods away from a place called “home”, but in essence we’re just a small group of people trying to make sense of the world and our place in it.

Which is why the random images at the top of each page are from geographic locales, most–but not all–taken by me during various travels through the Balkans, Austria, Hungary, Turkey, and America.

Do stay tuned. There are developments on the horizon which should enrich the Nomad to no end, making it stronger, more frequent, and tastier than it ever was before.

–Olen

*Tech note: The Nomad displays best on Mac browsers and Windows Internet Explorer versions 6 and up. It looks a complete mess in Win IE 5 and 5.5, and since I’m not enough of a whiz to rectify this, you might as well upgrade.