In 1937 Amelia Earhart disappeared while attempting to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan. Their aircraft vanished near Howland Island during one of the most publicised aviation attempts of the age. The disappearance became an enduring mystery and cultural legend.

Earhart's disappearance transformed her from record-breaking pilot into a haunting literary symbol. Poems, novels, and biographies use her vanishing to explore ambition, gender, risk, and the blank spaces of modern maps.