How reading travelogue Stories of the Sahara inspired a creative director and opened her eyes to what she could achieve
- Chinese travel writer Sanmao’s depiction of life in El Aaiún, the capital of the Spanish Sahara, had a huge impact on Penelope Luk when she read it in her teens
- Regularly reading the book at different stages of her life gave Luk meaning and guidance, while helping her to become a storyteller too
Stories of the Sahara (1976), the breakthrough and defining work of celebrated Chinese travel writer Sanmao, consists of short stories that together provide a detailed depiction of the author’s life in El Aaiún, the capital of the Spanish Sahara, now Western Sahara, where she moved in the mid-1970s with her Spanish husband, José María Quero, living alongside the local Sahrawi people.
Penelope Luk Wing-shum, creative director of Crafts on Peel, a non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting traditional crafts and contemporary artisans, tells Richard Lord how it changed her life.
From a very early age I loved reading, but I didn’t particularly love novels; travelogues inspired me. I’ve known this writer since I was in my teens, and I’ve read this book more than 10 times. At different stages of life when I read it, I get different things. It definitely changed my life in many ways and made me the current Penny.
She was confronted by a culture that fascinated and confounded her. She loved the landscape but was disappointed by the lifestyle; she was always treated as an outsider. The book is a breathtaking depiction of her adventure but also her misadventures – a very deep, human search for meaning and contentment.
Beyond her infectious energy in the book, it also gives glimpses of her unsettled behaviour. It captures the complexities of learning the art of living in the current time. She suffers from culture shock and can’t really recognise herself as the person she was in Taiwan.
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She’s a meticulous observer and an affecting storyteller. Enjoying Sanmao’s stories was like having a heartfelt dialogue with her, as if listening to a friend tell a touching story. I’d describe her as a figure of utopian fascination. She opened my eyes.
Her stories inspired me to be a storyteller when I grew up. I started my career as a copywriter. Because of this book, I also started to write a diary of my own life; it helped me serve as a witness to my own journey and as my own buddy when I was lost. The next step of my career was with airlines – again, because of reading travel tales. I had the privilege of travelling to almost every corner of the world for more than 10 years.
For most of the craftsmen I talk to, there are always new challenges and new improvements to be made. It echoes what I know about Sanmao: that she challenged herself in an unfamiliar place. My whole journey to Crafts on Peel was led by Sanmao and this book.
