Vendela Vida: ‘You write to know you’re not alone in the world’

The author, editor and teacher on how a theft abroad inspired her new novel, balancing three careers and ‘borrowing’ Wi-Fi

Vendela Vida is the author of five books, including Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and her new novel, The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty. She is a founding editor of the Believer magazine, and a long-term board member and teacher at 826 Valencia, the non-profit writing organisation created by her husband, the writer Dave Eggers.

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty starts with one of those nightmare travellers’ scenarios: you arrive somewhere unfamiliar, and immediately your bag, with all your vital paperwork and property, is stolen. Where did that idea come from?
My husband and I were travelling to Morocco several years ago, and we arrived in Casablanca. We were checking into our hotel and there was confusion about our room. When it was finally ready, I looked down and my bag was gone.

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