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Christina Lamb

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Christina Lamb
OBE
Lamb in 2022
Lamb in 2022
Born (1965-05-15) 15 May 1965 (age 59)
London, United Kingdom
OccupationJournalist, author
EducationUniversity College, Oxford
GenreJournalism
SpousePaulo Anunciação
Children1
Website
christinalamb.net

Christina Lamb OBE (born 15 May 1965) is a British journalist and author. She is the chief foreign correspondent of The Sunday Times.

Lamb has won nineteen major awards including five British Press Awards and the European Prix Bayeux-Calvados for war correspondents.[1] She is an Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Global Fellow for the Wilson Centre for International Affairs in Washington D.C.[2] In 2013 she was appointed an OBE by Elizabeth II for services to journalism.[3] In November 2018, Lamb received an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Dundee.[4][5]

She has written ten books including The Africa House and I Am Malala, co-written with Malala Yousafzai, which was named Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards 2013.[6][7][8]

Education

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Lamb was educated at Nonsuch High School for Girls, Cheam, and graduated with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford.[9]

Career

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Journalism

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As a journalist, Lamb travelled with the Mujahidin fighting the Soviet occupation, spending the next two years living in Peshawar. She has reported on Pakistan and Afghanistan for more than three decades.[10][11]

Lamb has been based in Islamabad and Rio de Janeiro for the Financial Times and Johannesburg and Washington D.C. for The Sunday Times.[12] She has covered wars from Iraq to Libya, Angola to Syria;[13] repression from Eritrea to Zimbabwe; and journeyed to the far reaches of the Amazon to visit remote tribes.[14][15] She pays particular attention to issues such as the girls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria,[16] Yazidi sex slaves in Iraq,[17] and the plight of Afghan women.[12][18]

In November 2001, Lamb was deported from Pakistan after uncovering evidence of a covert operation by rogue elements in the ISI, Pakistan's military intelligence service, to smuggle arms to the Taliban.[19] In 2006, she narrowly escaped with her life when caught in a Taliban ambush of British troops in Helmand.[20][21] She was on Benazir Bhutto's bus when it was blown up in October 2007.[22][23]

In April 2021, she wrote an article in The Sunday Times covering Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in which she stated "Prince Philip was the longest serving royal consort in British history – an often crotchety figure, offending people with gaffes about slitty eyes, even if secretly we rather enjoyed them".[24] In response to calls for a retraction of the article on the grounds that it was "trivialising racism", Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker apologised “for the offence caused”, stating that Lamb "never intended to make light of his remark in any way".[25]

Lamb is a member of the international board of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)[26] and is a Patron of the UK-registered charity Afghan Connection.[27]

Books and plays

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I Am Malala, an account of the life of main author Malala Yousafzai, has been translated into 40 languages, and has sold close to two million copies worldwide.[28]

Her book Nujeen: One Girl's Incredible Journey from War-torn Syria in a Wheelchair co-written with Nujeen Mustafa, was published by William Collins (London) in September 2016 and was translated in nine languages.[29] The book Nujeen inspired a five-movement cantata Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo written by Kevin Crossley-Holland (text) and Cecilia McDowall (music) first performed by The National Children's Choir of Great Britain in Birmingham Town Hall on 10 August 2018.[30]

Lamb's book Our Bodies, Their Battlefield was published by William Collins (London) in March 2020 and by Scribner (New York) in September 2020 and was translated into 14 languages.[31] Her latest book The Prince Rupert Hotel for the Homeless: A True Story of Love and Compassion Amid a Pandemic was published by William Collins (London) in June 2022.

Her first play Drones, Baby, Drones with Ron Hutchison was performed at London's Arcola Theatre in 2016.[32][33][34]

Awards and recognition

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In 1988, Lamb was awarded Young Journalist of the Year for her coverage of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.[12]

In 2009, Lamb's portrait was on display in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.[35][36] A photograph of her by Francesco Guidicini is in the Photographs Collection of the National Portrait Gallery.[37] She inspired the character Esther in the novel The Zahir (2005) written by Paulo Coelho.[38][39][40]

In 2017, she was the first female former undergraduate of University College, Oxford, to be elected an Honorary Fellow. The Fellowship was awarded in recognition of "her courageous, vivid and critically important journalism, as well as for her support of the College".[41]

Books

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  • Waiting for Allah: Pakistan's Struggle for Democracy (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1991. ISBN 978-0-670-87727-0)
  • The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream (London: Viking, 1999. ISBN 9780241130551)
  • The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years (London: HarperCollins, 2002. ISBN 9780007142521)
  • House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe (London: HarperPress, 2007. ISBN 9780007219391)
  • Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands (London: HarperPress, 2008. ISBN 9780007256891)
  • I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban co-written with Malala Yousafzai (New York: Little Brown, 2013. ISBN 978-0-29787-091-3)
  • Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan to a More Dangerous World (London: William Collins, 2015. ISBN 9780007256945)[42][43]
  • Nujeen: One Girl's Incredible Journey from War-torn Syria in a Wheelchair co-written with Nujeen Mustafa (London: William Collins, 2016. ISBN 9780062567734)[44]
  • Our Bodies, Their Battlefield: What War Does to Women (London: William Collins, 2020. ISBN 9780008300005)[45]
  • The Prince Rupert Hotel for the Homeless: A True Story of Love and Compassion Amid a Pandemic (London: William Collins, 2022. ISBN 978-0008487546)

Awards

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Journalism awards

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Book awards

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Other awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Prix Bayeux-Calvados, les reportages lauréats de 2009". Prix Bayeux-Calvados des correspondants de guerre. October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Asia Program Welcomes Global Fellow Christina Lamb". Wilson Center. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Our war reporter Christina Lamb is made an OBE". The Sunday Times. 30 December 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Winter Graduation to mark student success". University of Dundee. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. ^ "PICTURES: More than 1,000 Dundee students awarded degrees in graduation ceremony". Evening Telegraph (Dundee). 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Malala Yousafzai wins at Specsavers National Book Awards". The Telegraph. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  7. ^ "My year with Malala". The Sunday Times. 13 October 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Christina Lamb on Malala Yousafzai". Delayed Gratification 12. 2013. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Honourable Mentions". University College, Oxford. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Ilene Prusher reviews 'Farewell Kabul,' by Christina Lamb". The New York Times. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  11. ^ "In 'Bringing The World To Britain', Christina Lamb OBE Reflects on a Life's Work in the World's Most Dangerous Spots". HuffPost. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  12. ^ a b c "Who We Are: Top Talent, Christina Lamb". News UK. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Why I go to war, by Sunday Times journalist Christina Lamb". The Guardian. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  14. ^ "The Life and Times of a Female Foreign Correspondent". Nieman Reports. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. ^ "Meet author and foreign correspondent Christina Lamb". Battlezine. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  16. ^ "A fight for the soul of the world". The Sunday Times. 20 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  17. ^ "They have suffered something so terrible, their eyes will always haunt you". The Sunday Times. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  18. ^ "'Sad indictment' on newspapers: Christina Lamb on 29 years without a female editor". Campaign. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  19. ^ "Pakistan expels our foreign correspondent". The Telegraph. 11 November 2001. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  20. ^ "Have you ever used a pistol?". The Sunday Times. 2 July 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  21. ^ "A Dangerous Yet Still Necessary Assignment". Nieman Reports. 15 March 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Woman at war". New Zealand Listener. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  23. ^ "Working Mom in a War Zone". Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma. 5 October 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  24. ^ Lamb, Christina. "Prince Philip's funeral: forced to mourn alone, the Queen bids goodbye to her strength and stay". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  25. ^ Tobitt, Charlotte (20 April 2021). "Sunday Times apologises for Prince Philip gaffe". Press Gazette. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  26. ^ "IWPR International Board". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  27. ^ "The Patrons (UK) of Afghan Connection". Afghan Connection. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  28. ^ "Four Questions with Malala Yousafzai". Publishers Weekly. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Nujeen Mustafa's Journey from Syria to Literary Stage". Publishing Perspectives. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  30. ^ "Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo". Cecilia McDowall website. 21 October 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Our Bodies, Their Battlefields". Susanna Lea. 21 October 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  32. ^ "Drones, Baby, Drones review – Chilling choices of the remote-control killers". The Guardian. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  33. ^ "Drones, Baby, Drones review – Two plays consider the increasing military use of unmanned aerial vehicles". Financial Times. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  34. ^ "Drones, Baby, Drones review – A double bill probing the ethics of remote-control conflict evokes a passionate sense of our connection to one another as human beings". The Times. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  35. ^ "Feast for eyes at Ashmolean". The Oxford Times. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  36. ^ "My Ashmolean, My Museum". Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 2009. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  37. ^ "Artist Francesco Guidicini's portraits collection at the NPG". National Portrait Gallery. June 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  38. ^ "A Esther de carne e osso". Correio da Manhã. 17 April 2005. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  39. ^ "Coelho turns foreign correspondent's facts into fiction". The Guardian. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  40. ^ "He stole my soul". Paulo Coelho Writer Official Site. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  41. ^ "Honourable Mentions". University College. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  42. ^ "Farewell Kabul: From Afghanistan to a More Dangerous World review – a lucid account of the longest war". The Guardian. 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017.
  43. ^ Barfield, Thomas J. (October 2015). "Review". The Times Literary Supplement / ResearchGate. Boston University.
  44. ^ "This Girl Escaped From a Syrian War Zone in a Wheelchair". National Geographic News. 6 November 2016. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020.
  45. ^ Matloff, Judith (22 September 2020). "The War Crime No One Wants to Talk About". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
  46. ^ "Press Awards Winners 1980-1989". Society of Editors. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  47. ^ "Distant voices: the Amnesty media awards for human rights journalism". Amnesty International UK. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  48. ^ "Press Awards Winners 2000-2008". Society of Editors. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  49. ^ "Press Awards Winners 2000-2008". Society of Editors. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  50. ^ "Media Awards 2016". Amnesty International. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  51. ^ "Foreign Press Association Media Awards 2016". Foreign Press Association. 30 November 2016. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  52. ^ "Six awards won across three ceremonies last night". News UK. November 2016. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  53. ^ "City at the Women on the Move Awards 2017". City University of London. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  54. ^ "Gallery of Winners for 2019". Society of Editors. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  55. ^ "Christina Lamb OBE honoured with Outstanding Contribution to Journalism Award". Society of Editors. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  56. ^ "Campaigning journalism honoured at Media Freedom Awards". Society of Editors. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  57. ^ "Media Awards 2023 announced". Amnesty International. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  58. ^ "Winners announced for Media Freedom Awards 2024". Society of Editors. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  59. ^ "Discover Great New Writers Award Finalists". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  60. ^ "Results for Best Memoir & Autobiography". Goodreads. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  61. ^ "Shortlist announced for the Paddy Power Political Book Awards 2014". Politicos. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  62. ^ "Kate Summerscale's 'true ghost story' leads Baillie Gifford prize shortlist". The Guardian. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  63. ^ "Announcing the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists". PEN America. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  64. ^ "The New York Public Library Announces the Finalists for the 34th Annual Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism". NYPL. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  65. ^ "Orwell Prize Shortlists". The Orwell Foundation. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  66. ^ "Międzynarodowa Nagroda im. Witolda Pileckiego. Laureaci". tvn24. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  67. ^ "Nagroda im. Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego. Poznaj 5 książek finalistek". Lubimyczytać.pl. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  68. ^ "My Nieman year". The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  69. ^ "Christina Lamb". Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, a project of Columbia Journalism School. 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  70. ^ "Christina Lamb". HarperCollins Publishers. 2015. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  71. ^ "Christina Lamb - Women, A World of Inspiration". ASHA Foundation. 2006. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  72. ^ "Introducing the Bazaar 150 Visionary Women list". Harpers Bazaar. 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
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Photographs of Christina Lamb:

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