Cynthia Clampitt

I am a writer, speaker, and food historian. I have written since childhood, but I didn't consider writing as a career until I'd spent a decade in the corporate world. When I recognized that it was time for a change, and needing to test myself, I headed for the land Down Under, undertaking a six-month, 20,000-mile journey around and across the continent. This trip became the subject of my book "Waltzing Australia." But it was just the beginning of the adventure for me.

I built my new career around history, geography, food, and travel. I wrote about travel and food for magazines, but I also wrote history and geography books, in time working for every major educational publisher in the U.S., including the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and National Geographic Learning. However, over the last two decades, food history and the relationship between food and culture began to increasingly consume my attention. My food history research took me all over the world, and I wrote a food history column for fourteen years.

In the last few years, my research has increasingly focused on one of the richest agricultural areas in the world: the American Midwest. The newest result of this pursuit is "Destination Heartland: A Guide to the Midwest's Remarkable Past." This book takes the reader on a tour of destinations around the Greater Midwest that reveals just how important and iconic the region is, from Wyatt Earp to the Wright Brothers, Buffalo Bill to Henry Ford--and archaeology digs to living history venues to vintage towns. This is a truly remarkable region with a very American history-- and surprisingly international history, as well.

Prior to this, the first book to emerge from my fascination with the Heartland was "Midwest Maize" (University of IL Press, February 2015). Maize/corn is a far more exciting topic than you might imagine, connected to everything from vampires to time zones, football teams to railroads, Pilgrims to popcorn, the frontier to the snack aisle. Plus, if you’re curious about the issues that face us today, in a world dominated by maize/corn, this book will help bring things into focus.

Next up was "Pigs, Pork, and Heartland Hogs: From Wild Boar to Baconfest" (Rowman & Littlefield, October 2018). This is as astonishing a history as that of Maize, but is far more wide-ranging, as pigs have been part of life for so much of the world for so many thousands of years.

Fortunately, there is still a lot more to discover here -- so I'm already thinking about the next book.

In addition to books, to help share what I learn as I explore, I have three blogs: http://www.waltzingaustralia.com for tales and photos from Australia, http://www.theworldsfare.org for food and travel to places other than Australia, and http://www.midwestmaize.com for my adventures and explorations in the American Heartland. I hope you'll join me on one or more of my adventures. (And if you want to know more about my speaking, check out my website: http://www.worldplate.com)

Of course, I also hope that you'll buy my books. You may be surprised at just how much fun -- and how connected to your life -- the history of this region is.