New Zealand writer and publisher John Grant Ross has spent more than 30 years living in and reporting on Asia. His solo travels have taken him to destinations including Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, and Myanmar, where he wrote dispatches on the Karen insurgency. Since moving to Taiwan in 1994, Ross has authored several books and co-founded Camphor Press, the island’s leading publisher of English-language books on Taiwanese politics and history. Today, he also co-hosts the popular podcast Formosa Files. Ron Hanson spoke to Ross about his long journey off the beaten path.
It was a passion for geography and a thirst for knowledge that set John Grant Ross on his trek through Asia. A bright student, Ross finished a B.A. in Geography at Auckland University in 1987 at the tender age of 19. The following year, he embarked for Papua New Guinea. He would spend the next several years writing for inflight magazines and newspapers from the jungles of Myanmar and other rugged destinations throughout the region.
