Journalist and illustrator Ailsa Ross is a contributor to BBC History, Outside Online, and National GeographicTravel. Her debut book, The Woman Who Rode a Shark, is a work of nonfiction for young readers about bold women who’ve gone on big adventures.

Ross will be staying at Berton House from October to December 2019, where she will be working on A Field Guide for Feeling Free — a mix of biography and memoir on the subjects of curiosity, freedom, and fear told through the lives of eight iconic women who were drawn to remote places.