 Beyond travel , Chatwin influenced other writers , such as Claudio Magris , Luis Sepúlveda , Philip Marsden , and William Dalrymple . Nicholas Shakespeare stated that part of Chatwin 's impact was that his work was difficult to categorise and it helped " set free other writers ... [ from ] conventional boundaries . Although he was often called a travel writer , he did not identify as one nor did he consider himself a novelist . ( " I don 't quite know the meaning of the word novel , " he said ) . He preferred to call his writing stories or searches . He was interested in asking big questions about human existence , sharing unusual tales , and making connections between ideas from various sources . His friend and fellow writer Robyn Davidson said , " He posed questions we all want answered and perhaps gave the illusion they were answerable . " 
