Tracey Croke - 2024 Kennedy Awards Travel Writing winner
Tracey Croke was in marketing then became a journalist and travel writer and, in the Kennedy’s last year she won the gong for the best travel writing.
Her story was basically about a walking tour of Sydney’s Oxford Street queer bars and clubs in the company of drag queen, Kiami Blowhole.
It involved Tracey in various activities including cage dancing on what she described as, “a random night out” !
Her story, after winning a Kennedy, went on to win a British Guild of Travel Writers Award for Best Inclusivity Story
We chatted about the story, its significance and, is much of travel writing really journalism?
Tracey: “Travel writing is rarely journalism in the sense that you get a lot of stuff for free. Do you ever find any negativity in most travel writing outside of books? It’s rare. Even when declared, when you accept something for free at that point it stops being journalism, but that’s not to say that I and others don’t employ the same standards and there are plenty of important stories told through travel
Even though the cruise holiday is the main menu these days for a lot of travel writing Tracey has never been on one. And of course work by such as Herodotus, Kapuscinski, Chatwin and a legion of others is not only great writing but often great journalism.
Tracey: “The story I won the award with, I did it of my own bat. It was something I saw and thought it was fun. I went out in my backyard of Sydney to experience it and then I also discovered a story of the dark history of the discrimination against gay people, so I went into the whole rabbit hole of that history which is reflected in the story. I also learnt through that evening to be a better advocate myself. At the end of the day, it has been a meaningful experience that went way beyond some fun with a bunch of mates”.
You did say that initially was just a random night out, Do you have many random nights like that?
Tracey: “Yeah, I love stuff like this. I have a group of friends called the Out And About Club and we look at fun things like this to do, so we’ll go off and dance through the city on a silent disco for example. Yeah, random is probably my middle name.”
The story also involved you cage dancing with Kiama Blowhole?
“Yeah, you’ve got to do everything once in your life.
Would you describe yourself as a great dancer?
Tracey: “ No, I’ve had a lifelong arthritic condition of the spine since my teens so I, dance like a robot. I’m really the last person to be jumping in a cage and dancing, but I’m a can do person. I make it work.”
What aided and abetted the story process was Adventure.com commissioning the piece and giving her the autonomy to bring a number of dimensions to the writing;
Tracey: “I really felt that freedom to represent Kiami’s story allowed her to shine as a personality and that’s probably one of the reasons it worked. When I came away, I knew there was a story there, a strong story and a story I really wanted to tell.”.
Research also involved a follow-up night of Blowhole Bingo and this story didn’t just win a Kennedy for in November 2025;
Tracey: “I won an award for this as well from the British Guild of Travel Writers - Inclusivity category. This story and the follow up has been a whole journey of learning for me. One of the most rewarding things about being a writer or a journalist is sometimes what happens afterwards and the friends you make, like Kiama, or Denis as she is otherwise known.”
Tracey had a successful career in marketing as a senior executive with one of the world’s biggest companies and then her own consultancy firm and, in her spare time, a martial arts instructor. But she decided to change course and follow her interest in writing by way of a post graduate diploma at the London School of Journalism at the ripe old age of 48. Having migrated to Australia when he partner took a position here, Tracey, who is now an Australian citizen, was up in the middle of the night attending tutorials and the like remotely. Clearly, her success since then indicates a natural talent;
Tracey: “In the Australian Society of Travel Writers Awards I’ve won the Best Adventure Story twice and Best International Story. I have also been lucky enough to win two silver medals in the US based International Food, Wine & Travel Awards. It occurred to me recently that none of those winning stories were briefed stories I was asked to write or involved freebies.”
Were you surprised when your name was called out as the winner?
Tracey:“Yes, I was because that was my fourth finalist nomination in the Kennedys and all the others were in the same vein but here’s the thing, my good friend Catherine Marshall, who is also a journalist, was in the finals with me on all those four and she won the other three!. When I won, I was surprised to the point that I actually had my phone up to record Catherine taking the prize, so I had to drop the phone very quickly. There is only one Kennedy for Travel writing and having been a finalist in it three times before, winning was very special and Catherine was the first person to come and congratulate me.”
Read Tracey’s 2024 Kennedy Awards winning story HERE
