Foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn to deliver guest lecture

Renowned foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn will deliver this year’s Nick Lewis Memorial Trust Lecture.

As Middle East correspondent for the Financial Times since 1979 and, from 1990, The Independent, Patrick Cockburn has specialised in analysis of Iraq, Syria and wars in the Middle East.

In 2014 he forecast the rise of Isis before it was well known, and has written extensively about it and other players in the region.

He has worked as a correspondent in Moscow and Washington and has written three books on Iraq's recent history and on the war in Syria.

He received the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2009 and in 2014 was named Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year by the British Journalism Awards and also Foreign Reporter of the Year by The Press Awards.

“We are very pleased to have Patrick Cockburn joining us for this special event.” Centre for Journalism Director Professor Richard Sambrook said. “His long experience of covering events in the Middle East will give us rich insight into the challenges faced by journalists working in the region and also of the political and social impact of such conflicts.”

The public lecture will be the third annual lecture dedicated to the life of former South Wales journalist Nick Lewis and follows previous lectures given by Magnum photojournalist Ian Berry and former journalist John McCarthy.

Nick Lewis died of cancer in November 1999 at the age of 43. Following his passing, The Nick Lewis Memorial Trust was established to support young journalists with scholarships, exhibitions and bursaries.

The lecture is free, open to the public and will take place at 18:30 on Thursday 25 May 2017 at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. Attendees must register to attend.