Pico Iyer | The Walrus
Skip to content

The Walrus

Fact-based journalism that sparks the Canadian conversation

The Walrus
  • Support The Walrus
  • Subscribe to The Walrus
    • Renew your subscription
    • Get our latest issue
    • Give a gift subscription
  • Sections
    • Hope You're Well
    • Environment
    • Current Affairs
    • Society
    • Health
    • Business
    • Arts & Culture
    • Fiction
    • Poetry
    • Memoir
  • Events
    • The Walrus Gala 2022
    • The Walrus Events
    • The Walrus Talks Video Room
    • The Walrus Talks Leadership Forums
    • The Walrus Talks Leadership Roundtable
  • The Walrus Lab
    • Amazon Canada First Novel Award
    • Media Kit
    • What We Do
    • Our Projects
    • The Insider newsletter
  • Podcasts
    • The Deep Dive
    • The Conversation Piece
    • Let's Talk About the Internet
    • Bandwidth
    • What About Water
    • The Edge of Energy
    • Courage Inc.
  •   Newsletters
  •   About The Walrus
  • Shop The Walrus
Menu
  • Sections

    Business

    Environment

    Society

    Politics

    Arts & Culture

    Health

    Fiction

    Poetry

    Memoir

    Education

    Current Affairs

    Special Series

    Hope You're Well

    For the Love of the Game

    Living Rooms

    In Other Worlds

    More Special Series ⇒

    NEWSLETTERS

    Weekly Newsletter

    The Events Newsletter

    The Walrus Lab Insider Newsletter

    Subscribe

    Get our latest issue:

    Subscribe to The Walrus magazineRenew or Gift a subscriptionChange your address

    Events

    The Walrus Gala 2022

    The Walrus Events

    The Walrus Talks Video Room

    PODCASTS

    The Deep Dive

    The Conversation Piece

    Let's Talk About the Internet

    What About Water

    Bandwidth

    The Edge of Energy

    Courage Inc.

    The Walrus Lab

    Amazon Canada First Novel Award

    What We Do

    Our Services

    Our Projects

    The Insider Newsletter

    SHOP THE WALRUS

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
The Walrus

Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer (@PicoIyer) is the author of two novels and ten non-fiction books. His new book, Autumn Light, will be published next spring.
Two people walking near a blue building
June 2018 / World

The Future of Travel

July 6, 2018March 27, 2020 - by Pico Iyer

The world may be shrinking, but we’ll never tire of leaving home

Read More
Illustration by Anita Kunz
January/February 2017 / Music

Last Rites

November 10, 2016April 1, 2020 - by Pico Iyer

Only Leonard Cohen could sing his own elegy

Read More
Photograph by André Hofmeister
Society

The Handshake and the Calligraphy Brush

May 12, 2015April 10, 2020 - by Pico Iyer

Searching for harmony in modern Japan—across a Ping-Pong table

Read More
Video still of Pico Iyer from The Walrus Talks Play
The Walrus Talks Videos

The Handshake and the Calligraphy Brush

May 6, 2015October 16, 2019 - by Pico Iyer

“That seemed to be the state of modern Japan: halfway between China and North America, not sure how much to follow Marshall McLuhan and how much Confucius”

Read More
add for No Escape not even to Kyoto
First Person / July/August 2008

No Escape, Not Even to Kyoto

July 12, 2008May 25, 2020 - by Pico Iyer

There’s no escaping anything in life. Fly all the way to Tahiti or the Himalayas, and what you’ll find—as the Hollywood clichés often remind us—is that person who’s always longing …

Read More
Film / September 2006

The Promise of Beauty

September 12, 2006October 14, 2019 - by Pico Iyer

Terrence Malick’s brave new worlds

Read More
Books / October 2004

The Photographer and the Philosopher

October 12, 2004May 25, 2021 - by Pico Iyer

The traveller, I decided one day, is part photographer and part philosopher: his aim, as he sets out, is to catch some aspect of his subject – a tilt of …

Read More
Feature / February/March 2004

Lost in La Paz

February 12, 2004May 14, 2022 - by Pico Iyer

In Bolivia, where the past, present, and future collide, nothing – not even prison – is as it seems

Read More

Our Latest Issue

Cover of the July/August issue of The Walrus magazine. July/August 2022
Our Summer Reading double issue, featuring fiction from Ian Williams, Sarah Totton, and Jay Teitel and poetry from Rhiannon Ng Cheng Hin, Susan Musgrave, and Terese Mason Pierre.

BB Ad for Twitter spaces event on Sept. 17, 2021

Part of The Trust Project

Read more about The Trust Project and how this article fits in it

Part of The Trust Project

The Trust Project is a collaboration among news organizations around the world. Its goal is to create strategies that fulfill journalism’s basic pledge: to serve society with a truthful, intelligent and comprehensive account of ideas and events.

Learn more.
Behind The Story

Editorial Policies

Read more about our editorial policies here.


Walrus logo with tusks and Canada's Conversation

​​The Walrus is located within the bounds of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit. This land is also the traditional territory of the Anishnabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples.
Read more on our About Us page.

About The Walrus

  • About Us
  • Our Staff
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Careers & Fellowships
  • Advertise with us

The Walrus Lab

What we do
Our Services
Our Projects
Our Clients
Get in touch

The Walrus Lab

  • Amazon Canada First Novel Award
  • What we do
  • Our Services
  • Our Projects
  • Our Clients
  • Get in Touch

Subscribe

  • Magazine Subscription
  • Weekly Newsletter
  • Events Newsletter
  • The Conversation Piece Podcast

More

  • The Walrus Talks @Home
  • The Walrus Books
  • The Walrus Podcasts
  • Magazine Archives
  • Policies and Standards
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
© 2022 The Walrus. All Rights Reserved.
Charitable Registration Number: No. 861851624-RR0001

The Walrus uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Learn more or change your cookie preferences.

×