FARIBA NAWA
Istanbul,34
Overview
2025
2025
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Author
- Author of Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan (Harper Collins, 2011)
- Contributing writer to anthologies: The American Way: Stories of Invasion (fiction, Comma Press, 2021); Under the Drones: Modern Lives in Afghanistan-Pakistan Borderlands (Harvard University Press, 2012); Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future, (St Martin's Press, 2002)
- Author of Afghanistan, Inc. (CorpWatch, 2006)
- Speaker about Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan on live TV as well as university, library, and media events, talk on TEDx
Host and Editor-in-Chief
On Spec Podcast
09.2018 - Current
- Co-found freelance-run audio documentary from the field, train audio journalists and produce investigative episodes
- Report most recent nine-part series Lethal Dissent: How Iran kidnaps and kills its citizens abroad
Freelance Journalist
01.2001 - Current
- Byline in the New Yorker, Financial Times, Women in the World/New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, Newsweek, New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Christian Science Monitor, Sunday Times Magazine, Mother Jones, San Francisco Chronicle
- Audio stories in The World, NPR, Reveal, On Spec Podcast
- Coverage includes yearlong investigations in transnational repression, migration, coup and terrorism attacks, elections, human rights and war on terror from Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
Adjunct Lecturer of Journalism
San Francisco State University
01.2014 - 06.2015
- Teach upper-division university students advanced writing and reporting on community coverage
- Introduce students to editors to publish their work
News Trainer
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
07.2004 - 01.2005
- Train Afghan journalists, in the local languages, at the country's largest independent news agency, consulting two dozen reporters on the job as they developed story ideas, reported and wrote the stories on a daily deadline in the Afghan capital
- Coordinate 70 reporters across Afghanistan to cover the country's first presidential election
English Editor and Supervisor
Sustainable Development Policy Institute
07.2000 - 12.2000
- Prepare and edited newsletter, policy and research papers and books, revised scholarly jargon to readable material for Pakistan's top think tank
- Manage the unit's staff and activities, prepared annual budgets and hired consultants
Daily Reporter
ANG Newspapers
11.1997 - 07.2000
- Cover crime, criminal justice, culture and religion for chain serving the San Francisco Bay Area
- Found a monthly unsolved crimes series featuring cold police cases
- Write up to three stories a day on deadline
- Use foreign language skills to break stories in immigrant communities
- Complete seven investigative projects on topics ranging from low-income housing, diversity in police departments and local bombings
Consultant for the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan
United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
05.2000 - 07.2000
- Edit and format the demining program's annual report and press releases
- Help organize press conferences
- Write articles for the UN's Aina quarterly magazine
Contributing Writer
Pacific News Service
09.1991 - 05.2000
- Co-founder of a monthly youth publication Youth Outlook!
- Writing coach to incarcerated youth
Assistant Adviser
The American University in Cairo
09.1996 - 06.1997
- Teach feature and news writing to the Caravan staff, the university's newspaper class
Education
Master's degree - Middle Eastern studies and journalism
New York University
New York, NY01.2004
Bachelor of Arts - liberal arts
Hampshire College
Amherst, Mass.05-1996
Study Abroad - communications and Arabic
The American University in Cairo
Cairo01.1995
Awards
- Overseas Press Club award, 2021
- European Press Prize shortlist for Sisters of Europe project, 2021
- PEN USA finalist in research nonfiction for Opium Nation, 2012
- Achievement in community service from Afghan Coalition, 2013
- Project Censored for investigative report Afghanistan, Inc., 2007
- One World Broadcasting Trust Press Award for Brides of the drug lords, 2004
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Persian
Native or Bilingual
Turkish
Limited Working
Arabic
Elementary
Certification
- Skilled in radio recording and production
- Certified in first aid and trained to survive in hostile environments
- Prolific on social media with a network of 10,000 followers on social media platforms
- Public speaking on TV, radio and in front of large audiences
Timeline
Host and Editor-in-Chief
On Spec Podcast
09.2018 - Current
Adjunct Lecturer of Journalism
San Francisco State University
01.2014 - 06.2015
News Trainer
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
07.2004 - 01.2005
Freelance Journalist
01.2001 - Current
English Editor and Supervisor
Sustainable Development Policy Institute
07.2000 - 12.2000
Consultant for the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan
United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
05.2000 - 07.2000
Daily Reporter
ANG Newspapers
11.1997 - 07.2000
Assistant Adviser
The American University in Cairo
09.1996 - 06.1997
Contributing Writer
Pacific News Service
09.1991 - 05.2000
Author
Master's degree - Middle Eastern studies and journalism
New York University
Bachelor of Arts - liberal arts
Hampshire College
Study Abroad - communications and Arabic
The American University in Cairo