Colin Woodard
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Colin Woodard (born December 3, 1968''Woodard, Colin 1968–'' In: ''Contemporary Authors'', Gale, 2008

) is an American journalist and writer, known for his books '' American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America'' (2011), ''The Republic of Pirates'' (2007), and ''The Lobster Coast ''(2004), a cultural and environmental history of coastal
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
.


Education

Woodard graduated from
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
with a B.A. and completed his M.A. in international relations at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. In 1999 he was a Pew Fellow in International Journalism at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies. In 2021 he was named a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University. He lives outside Portland, Maine.


Career

Woodard is the author of six works of non-fiction. His first book, ''Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas'', appeared in 2000. His most recent, ''Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood'' was published in the spring of 2020 and named a ''Christian Science Monitor'' Book of the Year. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the " Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy" at Salve Regina University and State & National Affairs Writer at the ''
Portland Press Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...
'' and '' Maine Sunday Telegram''. He received a 2012
George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...
for an investigative project he did for those papers and was a finalist for the
2016 Pulitzer Prize The 2016 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2015 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced on April 18, 2016. Journalism Letters, Drama, and Music ...
for Explanatory Reporting for a series on climate change and the Gulf of Maine. He received a 2004 Jane Bagley Lehman Award for Public Advocacy (for his global environmental reporting), the 2012 Maine Literary Award for Non-Fiction (for ''American Nations''), the 2016 Maine Literary Award for Non-Fiction (for ''American Character'') and a Pew Fellowship in International Journalism at the
Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...
. Woodard was also a finalist for the 2016 Chautauqua Prize (for ''American Character'') and for a
Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...
for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism in both 2013 and 2014. In 2014, ''The Washington Post'' named him one of the "Best State Capitol Reporters in America" and the Maine Press Association chose him as Journalist of the Year. His third book, ''The New York Times'' bestseller ''The Republic of Pirates'', was the basis of the 2014 NBC drama '' Crossbones'', written by
Neil Cross Neil Cross ( Neil Claude Gadd; born 9 February 1969) is a British novelist and scriptwriter, best known as the creator of the drama series ''Luther'' and ''Hard Sun''. He is also the showrunner for the TV adaptation of '' The Mosquito Coast'', ...
and starring John Malkovich. Woodard was also a historical consultant for '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'', which was also set in the time period covered in ''Republic of Pirates''. He was a long-time foreign correspondent of ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', and ''
The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...
'', and has reported from more than fifty foreign countries and seven continents, from postings in
Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...
; Zagreb, Croatia;
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
; and the US–Mexico border. His work has appeared in dozens of publications including ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', '' Smithsonian'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
/
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'', '' Bloomberg View'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...
'', and ''
Down East "Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. Th ...
'', where he was a contributing editor. He is currently a contributing editor at ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
''. His book ''Union'' was released in 2020.
Iowa Public Radio Iowa Public Radio is a state network in the U.S. state of Iowa that combines the operations of the National Public Radio member stations run by Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and University of Northern Iowa. They broadcast programs ...
said "At a time of extreme political polarization, Colin Woodard's latest book seems more pertinent than ever." Loyola's ''
Commonweal Magazine ''Commonweal'' is a liberal American journal of opinion, edited and managed by lay Catholics, headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City. It is the oldest independent Catholic journal of opinion in the United States. History Foun ...
'' reviewed the book and called it "a fast-paced, character-centered narrative" but questioned its lack of women's voices. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' called the book "an unusual but engaging collective biography."


Selected works

* ''Ocean's End: Travel through Endangered Seas, Basic Books'', 2000, ; Chinese edition: Yiwen, 2002, * '' The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier, Viking'', 2004, * ''The Republic of Pirates: Being The True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down'', Harcourt, 2007, ; UK edition: Pan MacMillan, 2014, ; Spanish edition: Critica, 2008, ; Danish edition: Borgens Forlag, 2008, ; Polish edition: SQN, 2014, ; Portuguese edition: Novo Seculo, 2014, ; Hungarian edition: Könyvmolyképző Kiadó, 2014, ; Simplified Chinese edition: Social Sciences Academic Press, 2016, ; Complex Chinese edition: Cite/Business Weekly, 2015, ; Lithuanian edition: Leidykla Briedis, 2021, ; Japanese edition: Panorolling, 2021, * ''American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America'', Viking, 2011, ; Korean edition, Geulhangari Publishers, 2017, ; Japanese edition, Iwanami Shoten, 2017, * ''American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good'', Viking, 2016, * ''Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood'', Viking, 2020,


See also

* Bible Belt *
Bioregionalism Bioregionalism is a philosophy that suggests that political, cultural, and economic systems are more sustainable and just if they are organized around naturally defined areas called bioregions, similar to ecoregions. Bioregions are defined throug ...
*
Cascadia (independence movement) The Cascadia independence movement is a bioregional movement based in the Cascadia bioregion of western North America. Potential boundaries differ, with some drawn along existing political state and provincial lines, and others drawn along la ...
*
Ecotopia ''Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston'' is a utopian novel by Ernest Callenbach, published in 1975. The society described in the book is one of the first ecological utopias and was influential on the counterculture and the gr ...
*
Jesusland map The Jesusland map is an Internet meme created shortly after the 2004 U.S. presidential election that satirizes the red/blue states scheme by dividing the United States and Canada into "The United States of Canada" and "Jesusland". The map implie ...
* Political culture of the United States


References


External links


Official Website
*

(July 30, 2018;
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
) {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Colin American male journalists Living people 1968 births Writers from Portland, Maine Tufts University alumni University of Chicago alumni 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Journalists from Maine George Polk Award recipients Piracy