Kira Salak facts for kids

Kira Salak, born on September 4, 1971, is an American writer, adventurer, and journalist. She is famous for her exciting journeys to places like Mali and Papua New Guinea. Kira has written two nonfiction books and one fiction book, all inspired by her travels. She also works as a contributing editor for National Geographic magazine.

About Kira Salak

Early Life and Education

Kira Salak was born in Westmont, Illinois, a town near Chicago. Her mother worked as a waitress, and her father fixed large computers. When Kira was 13, she went to Wayland Academy, a boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. There, she was very good at cross-country running and even set a state record at age 14.

She trained for big national and Olympic running events. But then, she decided to stop running and explore the world instead. Kira studied writing, literature, and publishing at Emerson College. She later earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Arizona. In 2004, she completed her PhD in English at the University of Missouri. Her studies focused on American writing and travel stories.

Her Exciting Career

When Kira Salak was 24, she took a break from her studies. She went backpacking across Papua New Guinea, an island nation in the Pacific. She became the first American woman to travel all the way across the country. Her first book, Four Corners: One Woman's Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, tells the story of this amazing 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. A freelance writer works for different magazines or companies instead of just one. Kira became known as a very brave adventurer. She traveled through difficult areas and faced serious illnesses like malaria and cholera. The New York Times even called her a "tough, real life Lara Croft"!

Kira Salak has also written many short stories. These stories have appeared in well-known journals like Prairie Schooner and The Massachusetts Review. One of her stories, "Beheadings," is about a reporter looking for her lost brother. This story was chosen for a collection called Best New American Voices.

Kira says she started writing when she was just six years old. In 2005, her brother Marc passed away. Kira took a year off from magazine writing to finish her first novel, The White Mary. She described writing it as an "obsession." She lived in a small basement apartment and worked on the book privately.

Today, Kira writes regularly for National Geographic Adventure and National Geographic. She also writes for other magazines about her travels. She has visited many places, including Iran, Rwanda, Libya, Burma, Borneo, Uganda, and Peru. In 2003, she traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to report on a conflict there. She stayed in a town called Bunia, which was controlled by child soldiers. She described this experience as seeing many very sad and difficult things. She won a PEN literary award for her article about this trip.

Her articles have also been published in famous newspapers and magazines. These include New York Times Magazine, Travel & Leisure, and The Washington Post. Her work has been featured five times in the Best American Travel Writing collection.

Awards and Recognitions

Kira Salak has received several important awards for her writing and explorations:

• She won the PEN Award for journalism in 2004.
• Her work has been included 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 exciting new work 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 things:

• The National Geographic Society says she was 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" because of her adventurous spirit.
• The Library of Congress has featured her in their "Women Who Dare" publications. These books highlight top women explorers and leaders around the world.
• She was the first woman to cross Papua New Guinea. She followed the same path that Australian explorer Ivan Champion took in 1927.
• She was the first person to kayak up the Niger River.

Media Appearances

Kira Salak has been featured in many media outlets. She was on the CBS Evening News and the CBC's prime-time news show, The Hour. She has also been profiled in:

• The New York Times Book Review
• Glamour
• Vogue
• The Observer
• The Times
• NY Post
• Travel & Leisure
• National Geographic
• Book Magazine
• National Geographic Adventure

Books by Kira Salak

Kira Salak has written several books based on her adventures:

• Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea (2004): This book tells the story of her journey across Papua New Guinea, following an old explorer's route.
• The Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred miles to Timbuktu (2004): This book describes her 600-mile kayak trip down the Niger River in Mali to Timbuktu. She followed the path of explorer Mungo Park.
• The White Mary (2008): This is a novel about a war reporter named Marika Vecera. She goes to Papua New Guinea to investigate a mystery about another journalist.

See also

• List of female adventurers