Remembering Anthony Shadid

Anthony Shadid spent most of his professional career covering the Middle East, first for the Associated Press; then The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and finally The New York Times – for which he was working when he died in February this year while crossing the border out of Syria. At this special event we will be joined by friends and colleagues of Anthony Shadid to remember the life and work of this most esteemed journalist.

Followed by a drinks reception.

His knowledge of the region and his ability to translate the stories of the people to a global audience has seen him recognised as one of the most gifted journalists of his generation. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice; first in 2004 for his coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the occupation that followed. Second, for his coverage of Iraq as the United States began its withdrawal.

In March last year Shadid was captured by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya with three other New York Times reporters and held for six days. On his release he did not return to the US, but to the house his great-grandfather had built and he had embarked on restoring in southern Lebanon. His most recent book House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East recounts this journey of restoration entwined with the story of his family’s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America.

With contributions from:

New York Times reporter and wife of Anthony Shadid, Nada Bakri.

Jonathan Rugman, foreign affairs correspondent at Channel 4 News.

Kareem Fahim, Middle East reporter for The New York Times.

Katia Jarjoura, journalist and filmmaker.

Chaired by John Freeman, editor of Granta.