Kira Salak facts for kids

Kira Salak (born September 4, 1971) is an amazing American writer, adventurer, and journalist. She is famous for her exciting travels to places like Mali and Papua New Guinea. Kira has written several books about her adventures. She is also a contributing editor for National Geographic magazine. She is known for exploring tough and interesting parts of the world.

About Kira Salak

Her Early Life

Kira Salak was born on September 4, 1971, near Chicago, Illinois. Her mom was a waitress, and her dad fixed big computers. When Kira was 13, her parents sent her to Wayland Academy. This was a boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

At school, she loved cross-country running. When she was 14, she even set a state record in track! She trained for big national and Olympic races. But then, she decided to stop running and travel the world instead.

Kira studied writing and literature at Emerson College. She later earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona. In 2004, she got her PhD in English from the University of Missouri. She focused on American prose and travel writing.

Her Exciting Career

When Kira was 24, she took a break from school. She decided to backpack across Papua New Guinea, an island nation in the Pacific. She became the first American woman to cross the whole country!

Her first book, Four Corners: One Woman's Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, tells the story of this trip. After her book came out, an editor from National Geographic Adventure magazine asked her to write for them. This is how Kira started her career as a freelance writer.

Kira became known as a very brave adventurer. She survived dangerous areas and faced serious illnesses like malaria and cholera. The New York Times even called her a "tough, real life Lara Croft". Book Magazine said she was "the gutsiest – and some say, craziest – woman adventurer of our day."

Many of Kira's short stories have been published in well-known journals. One story, "Beheadings," is about a war reporter looking for her lost brother. It was chosen for a collection called Best New American Voices.

Kira says she started writing when she was just six years old. After her brother Marc passed away in 2005, Kira took a year off from magazine writing. She used that time to finish her first novel, The White Mary. She said it was a very personal experience.

Kira now writes regularly for National Geographic Adventure and National Geographic. She also writes for other magazines. Her travels have taken her to places like Iran, Rwanda, Libya, Burma, Borneo, Uganda, and Peru.

In 2003, she convinced some Ukrainian gun-runners to fly her to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She wanted to report on the war there. Kira stayed in a town called Bunia, which was controlled by child soldiers. She described it as a very difficult and sad experience. She won a PEN literary award for her article about this trip.

Her articles have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure, The Washington Post, and Backpacker. Her work has been featured five times in Best American Travel Writing. Her fiction has also been recognized in Best New American Voices. Her stories and articles are in many collections about adventure and travel.

Awards and Recognitions

Kira Salak has received many important awards for her work:

• She won the PEN Award for journalism in 2004.
• Her work has appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing.
• In 2005, the National Geographic Society gave her an Emerging Explorer Award. This award recognizes people who are doing amazing things in exploration.
• She has won two Lowell Thomas Gold Awards for Best Foreign Article and Environmental Reporting.
• She also received the AWP/Prague Fellowship Award for creative nonfiction.

Amazing Accomplishments

Kira Salak has achieved many incredible feats:

• The National Geographic Society's website says she is the "first documented person to kayak solo 966 kilometres (600 mi) down the Niger River".
• The New York Times has called her "a real-life Lara Croft".
• The Library of Congress has chosen her for its "Women Who Dare" publications. These highlight the world's top women explorers and leaders.
• She was the first woman to cross Papua New Guinea. She followed the same route taken by an Australian explorer named Ivan Champion in 1927.
• She was also the first person to kayak up the Niger River.

Media Appearances

Kira Salak has been featured on TV news shows. She was profiled on the CBS Evening News. She also appeared on the CBC's prime-time news show, The Hour. She has been profiled in many magazines and newspapers. These include The New York Times Book Review, Glamour, Vogue, The Observer, The Times, NY Post, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic, and Book Magazine.

Her Books

• Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, National Geographic Books, 2004: This book tells the story of her journey across Papua New Guinea. She retraced the 1927 route of explorer Ivan Champion.
• The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred miles to Timbuktu, National Geographic Books, 2004: This book describes her 600-mile journey down the Niger River. She traveled from Old Segou, Mali, to Timbuktu. She followed the route taken by the explorer Mungo Park.

See also

• List of female adventurers