Contemporary Authors

• Joe Minihane - http://jmtravels.org/about/

  My name's Joe Minihane. I'm a freelance travel writer based in Brighton, UK. I'm obsessed with all aspects of travel, from discovering new places, returning to old haunts, eating great food and experiencing the best culture any destination has to offer.

  MY WORK

  My travel writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Evening Standard, Lonely Planet, CNN Travel, Escapism magazine, Vacations and Travel, Emirates Open Skies, World Travel Guide and The Independent. I also edit and produce copy for a range of commercial clients. Between 2012 and 2015, I retraced Roger Deakin's seminal Waterlog, wild swimming my way across the UK from Scilly to Scotland. The book about my journey, Floating: A Life Regained, is out in 2017 on Duckworth. Pre–order from Hive, Amazon and Waterstones now.

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-minihane-0ba00530/

  Joe Minihane
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  Joe Minihane

  Freelance
  Freelance Journalist, Writer & Editor Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd
  London, United Kingdom 99 99 connections
  Connect Connect with Joe Minihane
  Freelance journalist, author and copy writer with a passion for travel, adventure and new experiences. I write
  extensively for big titles such as Lonely Planet, CNN Travel and The Independent. My first book, Floating, a journey of wild swimming discovery around the UK, is published in 2017 by Duckworth Overlook.
  See more See more of Joe’s summary
  Experience
  Freelance Journalist, Writer & Editor
  Freelance
  Company NameFreelance Journalist, Writer & Editor
  Dates EmployedJul 2009 – Present Employment Duration8 yrs 7 mos
  LocationBrighton, United Kingdom
  Since July 2009, I have worked as a freelance writer for a wide variety of publications. I write regularly about travel for Lonely Planet, CNN Travel, The Independent and World Travel Guide, as well as for international magazines including Escapism, Emirates Open Skies and Cathay Pacific's Discovery. My first person features have seen me meet the Ama divers of South Japan, go sand-boarding in the Peruvian Atacama and tour Brooklyn's best record shops.

  I also produce round-up travel features aimed at inspiring readers, whether they're looking to plan their next trip or simply want a way to daydream about hitting the road. This includes pieces on the best coffee holidays, the world's best beaches and exploring food culture in destinations including Frankfurt and Aarhus.

  Both my first person and round-up features require me to work closely with editors to hone copy and ensure the angle of my pieces are on point.

  I cover emerging tech trends for titles including Wired, Stuff and T3 and also write and edit for an array of commercial clients including Uswitch.com. For the latter I upload, copy edit and approve text and images, while producing content which appears in newsletters and on social media channels.

  I have also worked for Republic Publishing as a commissioning editor for its technology websites, managing workflow and contributors, while ensuring its outlets were served with a large and varied amount of content on a daily basis.

  2017 sees the publication of Floating, my first book, which traces my wild swimming journey around the UK. It will be published by Duckworth in the UK and Overlook in the US. Over three years I researched and wrote a book which explores the stunning rivers, lakes, lidos and bays of my home country, looking at how this visceral activity can soothe mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. As a self starter, I wrote Floating in my spare time while pursuing other freelance projects.

  Media (5)This position has 5 media
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  CNN Travel - 9 incredible beaches that define summer
  CNN Travel - 9 incredible beaches
  that define summer
  This media is a link
  Lonely Planet - Globetrotting for chocoholics
  Lonely Planet - Globetrotting for
  chocoholics
  This media is a link
  Lonely Planet - Just gorge-ous: the world's most tantalising food markets
  Lonely Planet - Just gorge-ous: the
  world's most tantalising food markets
  This media is a link
  Escapism -Age Ain't Nuthin But A Number: Exploring the key to old age in Okinawa
  Escapism -Age Ain't Nuthin But A
  Number: Exploring the key to old age in Okinawa
  This media is a document
  Escapism - Hunger Games: Eating in NYC's outer boroughs
  Escapism - Hunger Games: Eating in
  NYC's outer boroughs
  This media is a document
  Haymarket Publishing
  Multimedia Editor, Stuff.tv
  Company NameHaymarket Publishing
  Dates EmployedMar 2008 – Jul 2009 Employment Duration1 yr 5 mos
  Poached from my role as news writer at T3.com, my job as Multimedia Editor at Stuff.tv required me to not only produce a constant stream of well sourced news, but also work on a wide variety of prescient features to make us stand out in a crowded market. Since joining Stuff, the site enjoyed a 50 per cent increase in traffic thanks to scoops, features and fast news coverage. I also wrote weekly blog posts on music and the latest technology trends. I was entrusted with planning and presenting the weekly podcast and doing work in front of and behind the camera for the weekly Stuff.tv vidcast. I also continued media work for the likes of Sky News, Five, BBC World Service and Newsround.

  Future Publishing
  News writer, T3.com
  Company NameFuture Publishing
  Dates EmployedDec 2006 – Mar 2008 Employment Duration1 yr 4 mos
  Promoted to the role of News Writer from my original position as Staff Writer, I edited the news section of T3.com. This involved using key journalistic skills in order to scoop rivals. The job required me to maintain excellent relations with a vast contacts book of PRs and executives, as well as working to constant daily deadlines. I was also entrusted with regular media appearances on radio and television, including BBC Asian Network and Five News.

  Lyceum Media
  Staff writer
  Company NameLyceum Media
  Dates EmployedJan 2006 – Dec 2006 Employment Duration12 mos
  As Staff Writer I wrote news, features, interviews and reviews for Lyceum Publishing’s titles including Gambling Magazine, Bluff Europe, iGaming Business and CAP, as well as writing press releases for the PR arm of the business. I also managed content on the company’s websites, iGaming Business and Online Casino News and commissioned features for CAP. The role required me to work across a range of deadlines and maintain relationships with PRs and publicists, as well as managing a core group of contributors.

  BBC Worldwide
  Editorial Junior, Top Gear magazine
  Company NameBBC Worldwide
  Dates EmployedJul 2005 – Dec 2006 Employment Duration1 yr 6 mos
  As Editorial Junior at Top Gear magazine, I organised, compiled and wrote the four page Top Gear products section. This required forward planning and excellent relations with PRs and photo studios. I also wrote music, film, game and book reviews, along with news features on motoring and lifestyle for the Faces section of the magazine and arranging photo shoots on location around the country. This was initially a three-month contract, but was extended to six.

  Education
  Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd
  Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd
  Degree NamePost graduate diploma: Magazine Journalism Field Of StudyJournalism
  Dates attended or expected graduation 2004 – 2005

  University of East Anglia
  University of East Anglia
  Degree NameHistory Field Of StudyHistory
  Dates attended or expected graduation 2000 – 2003

  I worked at the student newspaper and played an active role in the university radio station.

  Volunteer Experience
  Oxfam
  Bookshop volunteer
  Company NameOxfam
  Dates volunteeredJun 2010 – Jul 2014 Volunteer duration4 yrs 2 mos
  Cause Poverty Alleviation
  I worked weekly shifts at my local Oxfam book shop, replenishing stock, dealing with customers and helping fundraising drives to alleviate poverty in some of the world's most deprived areas.

1/14/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
Minihane, Joe: FLOATING
Kirkus Reviews.
(May 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Minihane, Joe FLOATING Overlook (Adult Nonfiction) $28.95 7, 1 ISBN: 978-1-4683-1492-2
In his debut memoir, a British journalist and copywriter tells the story of how outdoor swimming helped
him cope with anxiety.Minihane had glamorous dreams of becoming a journalist and travel writer, but as he
approached 30, he found himself churning out copy about "phones, game consoles and speakers" instead.
Even worse, the anxiety that had trailed him since graduate school had become a permanent feature of his
life that he hid from everyone, including his wife. Temporary relief came only through swimming, so he
swam "to fix myself, to cure myself and to make myself a better person in my own eyes." In researching
different places to partake of his "remedy," the author came across the work of naturalist Roger Deakin,
who had undertaken a journey across the British countryside to indulge his passion for swimming wild.
Inspired, Minihane decided he would honor the late naturalist by following in his wake. He began his quest
at a London public facility that he disliked for the way it had been transformed into a "commodity" rather
than something that served the "well-being of society." His first taste of the addictive headiness of a wild
swim came with his experience in the River Granta. "Despite succumbing to extreme shivers," he writes, "I
was on a soaring high." The inertia that had crippled him fell away as he eagerly anticipated each new
adventure, which took him all over England and Scotland and helped him reconnect with old friends. When
he accidentally broke his wrist and had to stop swimming, Minihane's adventure ground to a halt and his
anxiety returned. He sought therapy, which eventually became "like the swims I had enjoyed." With
expectations newly revised, the author resumed his watery journey, which had finally become his own.
Detailed and searching, the book chronicles one man's search for inner peace while reaffirming the calming
power of the natural world. A genuine and refreshing nature memoir.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Minihane, Joe: FLOATING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491934219/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9729b8af.
Accessed 14 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491934219
1/14/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Floating: A Life Regained
Publishers Weekly.
264.19 (May 8, 2017): p51.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Floating: A Life Regained
Joe Minihane. Overlook, $28.95 (272p)
ISBN 978-1-4683-1492-2
In this thoughtful memoir, freelance journalist Minihane finds spiritual direction by following in the path of
nature writer and environmentalist Roger Deakin and his 1996 book, Waterlog. In an effort to subdue his
anxiety, Minihane taps into the healing power of waters by swimming in the sea and in rivers and streams
throughout England. He observes that "you see and experience things when you're swimming in a way that
is completely different from any other." Each of the book's picturesque English locales make him more
aware of the surroundings passing away with gentrification, the old making way for the new. Whereas
Deakin's book is a travelogue with a feel-good philosophy, Minihane's saga of countless breaststrokes and
front crawls becomes stagnant for him, until he is forced to seek professional help in a desperate effort to
steady himself. He begins to tire of the swims, and his anxiety returns after each dip; but in time, that
feeling subsides. Endlessly probing, Minihane's lyrical chronicle of swimming therapy is his own attack on
worry and self-loathing. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Floating: A Life Regained." Publishers Weekly, 8 May 2017, p. 51. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491949119/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2ae40fea.
Accessed 14 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491949119

• On: Yorkshire Magazine
  https://www.on-magazine.co.uk/arts/book-review/non-fiction/floating-a-life-regained-joe-minihane/
  Word count: 962

  Floating: A Life Regained by Joe Minihane – Book Review
  Written by // // Non-Fiction // No comments

  floating a life regained book review joe minihane
  Floating: A Life Regained by Joe Minihane
  Book Review
  by Barney Bardsley

  In 1999 a book was published, called Waterlog. It quickly became a left-field success, setting the trend for a series of highly personal, passionate books, about the natural world and where we fit within it. It was written by Roger Deakin, a maverick and dashing environmentalist, who lived in an old, tumbledown Suffolk farmhouse, surrounded by a moat, in which he swam every day, weeds, rain, wind and winter be damned.

  The moat became a talisman for Deakin: of the wild and wet outdoors, and of the capacity for nature to heal us, the deeper and more wholeheartedly we immerse ourselves in it. Unwilling to stay tethered to his own backyard, Deakin, inspired by John Cheever’s short story ‘The Swimmer’, and fuelled by his passion for year-round wild swimming, undertook a journey through the length and breadth of the British Isles, during which he swam in all the outdoor pools and rivers he could find, later documenting his experiences in a strange and compelling book. Waterlog was its name. In the years since its publication – and since Deakin’s untimely death from a brain tumour in 2006 – the book has become something of a cult classic for those who love the British countryside, and in particular the waterways, which run, like essential veins and capillaries, through its bodymass.

  floating a life regained joe minihane book review“Disarms the reader from the outset”
  As a keen, but lily-livered swimmer, I lapped up Deakin’s powerful prose when his book appeared, and marvelled at his capacity for broaching the coldest and most unprepossessing stretches of water. He was a true adventurer, and reading his words, even from the warmth of a well-heated living room, was a bracing experience.

  Deakin’s journey was a clarion call to other wild swimmers, keen to release whole stretches of water from petty Do Not Trespass rules and regulations, and swimming outdoors has certainly become more popular and more acceptable over the past two decades, due in no small part to Roger Deakin’s pioneering spirit.

  Joe Minihane is the latest to follow in Deakin’s watery footsteps, and he, too, has committed his wild swimming journey to paper: a journey which pays open and unabashed tribute, throughout, to his ‘Waterlog’ hero and predecessor.

  Floating disarms the reader from the outset, when Minihane confesses, in the book’s preface, to his feelings of failure and vulnerability. He determines to find a stronger, truer way of living, by immersing himself in outdoor waterways – by swimming himself better.

  “The cold slap of wild rivers and pools against his anxious body”
  He suffers from anxiety, self loathing and worry: a negative emotional spiral, compounded by his work as a freelance writer, which is an introspective and sometimes lonely occupation. But,“in swimming”, he writes, “I found the only thing that truly broke me out of my anxious cycle for more than a few minutes. There was a long, deep burn of satisfaction and calm that followed in the wake of my bow wave.”

  Buoyed up by his new passion, he comes across the name of Roger Deakin, and is quickly entranced, as were so many, by his ‘Waterlog’ writings. Struck by Deakin’s insistence on the power of water to heal, Minihane undertakes his own “swimming cure”, over a two year span, visiting all the watery haunts that Deakin wrote about, and feeling, for himself, the cold slap of wild rivers and pools against his anxious body. He swims – and then writes – himself well.

  “Every time I thought of or was near water, my mind was at peace, the river or the sea or the lido buoying me up without judgement, making everything simple. Helping me see the world anew.”

  floating a life regained author joe minihane portrait
  Author, Joe Minihane

  “A tactical error”
  Everything about this young man – his struggles and his valiant quest to solve them – has the reader rooting for him. But he has made a tactical error in referencing Roger Deakin so heavily, throughout his own book. Deakin was a one-off, an impossible act to follow. And yet that is exactly what Minihane has tried to do here. Inevitably, he ends up reading like a pale imitation of his iconic hero, rather than offering us something original and new.

  The parts of the book where he explores difficulty and diversion – the breaking of his wrist during his journey, and the inevitable introspection that follows; the illuminating visits to a therapist when his mood begins to darken – are the liveliest by far. Sadly, the least compelling entries are the descriptions of the wild swims themselves, all of which start to blur, one into the other, as the writing accumulates and the quest comes close to completion.

  It is hard to write about the natural world in a way which brings it, singing, to life on the page. It was a gift Minihane’s hero, Roger Deakin, certainly possessed, but it is one that his courageous admirer is yet to fully master. I look forward to another nature book from him – one where he throws off all comparisons, and jumps in deep, to find his own hidden treasures. I don’t doubt, for a second, that they lie there, waiting to be revealed.

  ‘Floating – A Life Regained’ by Joe Minihane is published by Duckworth Overlook, £14.99 hardback, ISBN 9780715651803

• Nudge Book
  https://nudge-book.com/blog/2017/06/second-opinion-floating-a-life-regained-by-joe-minihane/
  Word count: 548

  SECOND OPINION: Floating: A Life Regained by Joe Minihane
  Facebook Twitter Google
  Review published on June 2, 2017.
  I went wild swimming one time, just once. I was eight years old and trailing an older cousin and her best friend. The memories are vivid considering I was only eight. The fresh water, all the weeds and stuff in the river, how cold it was, the fear of fish and things nibbling on me, it was amazing. And if that seems to be self absorbed and irrelevant when I am supposed to be writing a review of this book I mention it because that experience means I totally ‘get’ this book.

  I am usually a fiction aficionado but I do enjoy the occasional foray into the realms of non fiction and its usually history I read so this book was a refreshing change. Ostensibly a book about swimming, it is deceptively multi layered. The premise is that a stressed and anxious, newly freelance, journalist who enjoys swimming finds the naturalist Roger Deakin’s book Waterlog and decides to follow in Deakins’ footsteps. And if you simply the read the book as that it is a catalogue of wild swims in various locations around the British Isles.

  But I found it so much more. Stress is a much bandied term nowadays and some people refer to it sometimes as if it is a kind of possession or a personality trait and there’s not much to be done about it. There may be people who read this book and wonder what Joe has to be stressed about given the life he seems to be leading. But of course stress is such a relative condition. And this book highlights that most emphatically.

  What it also does is offer us one man’s solution to dealing with stress and if you read the book as that the swimming becomes secondary almost. But if you embrace the book as a total whole everything is elevated so that it becomes almost a self help book as all the strands weave together to conclude with an epiphany of sorts.

  I loved the writer’s honesty. In a world where so many are focused on creating identities of shallow veneer it was refreshing to read someone candidly admit they felt fear in certain situations and openly discussed their perceived shortcomings.

  If I have a criticism it is that after a while each swim seemed to meld into another in terms of the descriptions for whilst each location was different the format remained very similar. But that disappears into oblivion when you exalt this book as a celebration of nature’s power to heal and the strength of love and friendship.

  Perhaps the final point to be made is that all of us are floating in the waterways of life, navigating the flotsam and jetsam we encounter along the journey and dealing with it in our own ways. So I wonder whether this book might be of immense help to those who, unlike Joe, have not yet found a route to their own healing.

  Gill Chedgey 4/4

  Floating: A Life Regained by Joe Minihane
  Duckworth Overlook 9780715651803 hbk Apr 2017

• Foreword Reviews
  https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/floating/
  Word count: 466

  FLOATING
  A LIFE REGAINED
  Joe Minihane
  The Overlook Press (Jun 20, 2017)
  Hardcover $28.95 (272pp)
  978-1-4683-1492-2

  After Joe Minihane quit his journalism job to go freelance, he soon found himself having to write dull technology stories, all along wishing he could be a travel writer instead. He was in a state of constant anxiety about finances, which provoked feelings of being a failure.

  In 2010, he took up wild swimming, mostly in England’s ponds and rivers, as a way to train himself to stay in the moment and quiet his mind; “I swam to fix myself,” he recalls. In Floating: A Life Regained, he recounts how, over the course of two and a half years, he battled depression by reprising the outdoor swimming challenges undertaken by his hero, the late English nature/travel writer Roger Deakin, in Waterlog, which here becomes a kind of sacred text. Minihane first documented the journey on his Waterlog Reswum blog.

  Whereas Deakin had a moat at his Elizabethan farmhouse in Suffolk to use as a daily practice site, Minihane had London’s Hampstead Ponds. Neither a naturalist nor a strong swimmer, he was perhaps not an obvious candidate to recreate Deakin’s feats. Since he didn’t drive, he caught rides with fellow swimmers or prioritized sites near train stations. Outdoor swimming always brought its fair share of worries, like a dread of nibbling fish or “the tortuous task of disrobing” in out-of-season cold. Worse, his bicycle was once struck by an SUV, and he couldn’t swim while he waited for his broken wrist to heal.

  The book is many things: a quest narrative, an atmospheric travel book ranging from the Yorkshire Dales to the Scilly Isles, and a record of psychic transformation. Minihane calls it “part homage, part personal mission to find my own place in Roger’s tale.” That habit of referring to Deakin chummily as “Roger” somewhat grates, but it emphasizes the author’s sense of intimate connection with the mind behind Waterlog.

  Clearly this is about more than just swimming; it’s about finding what produces fulfillment and camaraderie. “As much as being in the water is about escape,” Minihane writes, “it is also about joy. Sharing swims like this made me happy.”

  Reviewed by Rebecca Foster
  July/August 2017

  Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.