Alan Cowell
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Alan S. Cowell (born 16 March 1947) is a British journalist and a former foreign correspondent for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.


Career

Between 2008 and 2013 Cowell was a Senior Correspondent for NYTimes.com based in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. In March 2015, he left the staff of ''The New York Times'' but continued as a freelance contributor. He has also written for '' The Times of London''. Cowell began his journalism career as a reporter for British newspapers: ''The Lancashire Evening Post'' and '' The Cambridge News'' before becoming a news writer/reader at the
Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...
, in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Switzerland, in 1971. He joined
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
in 1972 as a reporter based in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
Laurence, John. "BOOKS OF THE TIMES: Chasing Death, Then Being Chased." ''The New York Times'', 17 September 2003 and ''The New York Times'' in 1981. His reporting has covered primarily the Middle East, Africa and Europe. During a period of time based in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, he also covered the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
and was a member of the traveling press accompanying
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
in Latin America, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. During a 43-year career as a foreign correspondent, Cowell worked from news bureaux in Germany, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Greece, Egypt, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. At Reuters, during the days immediately preceding Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, he was the last reporter known to have filed stories by carrier pigeon. In 1985 he was awarded the
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 awar ...
for Foreign Reporting in recognition of his coverage of South Africa, whence he was expelled in 1987. He is currently based in London, where he has covered major stories including the 2006 killing of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former K.G.B. officer poisoned with the rare radioactive isotope, Polonium 210, which is the subject of his book ''The Terminal Spy''. His works of fiction have been set in locations including the English Lake District, Paris and South Africa.


Bibliography

* ''Cat Flap: A Novel.'' New York: St. Martin's Press, 2018. * ''A Walking Guide: A Novel.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. * ''Killing the Wizards: Wars of Power and Freedom from Zaire to South Africa.'' Simon & Schuster 1992. * ''Why Are They Weeping? South Africans under Apartheid'' (with David Turnley). Stewart, Tabori and Chang 1988. * ''The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal, and Murder.'' Doubleday 2008. (US); 9780385614153 (UK) * ''The Paris Correspondent: A Novel.'' New York: The Overlook Press, 2011. (US) * ''Permanent Removal: A Novel.'' Johannesburg: Jacana Media, 2016.


Notes

1947 births Living people British male journalists 21st-century British novelists The New York Times journalists George Polk Award recipients Place of birth missing (living people) British male novelists 21st-century British male writers {{UK-journalist-stub