About: Resume

EDUCATION

2008 - 2009. Fulbright Alistair Cooke Scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, USA. M.S. in print journalism. Skills classes in New Media and photography. Won further scholarships from Overseas Press Club, Foreign Press Association, New York Financial Writers Association and Hugh Fulton Byas Foundation.

2007 - 2008. International Language Institute, Egypt. Intensive course in written and spoken Arabic.

2004 - 2007. Worcester College, University of Oxford, England. BA English Literature. Distinction in first year exams (ranked 11th/270). Awarded college scholarship.

EXPERIENCE

2010. Overseas Press Club Fellowship with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey. Foreign placement part of award won for story written in Egypt about Second World War landmines in the Western Desert. In Istanbul wrote extensively on subjects including Islamic education, Turkey's attempts to come to terms with the past and the decay and preservation of vernacular Ottoman architecture.

2009. James Reston Reporting Fellowship at the New York Times. Covered a wide range of stories across the New York metropolitan area. Wrote extensively for both the newspaper's print edition and the website. Worked on daily hard news, extended features assignments and long-term investigative projects. Also contributed to the Sunday book review and travel sections.

2005 - present. Contributor to publications including the New Statesman, the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Times Literary Supplement, Intelligent Life, the New Republic, Tatler and the Financial Times. Filed news stories, features articles, travel pieces and reviews from 800 - 2500 words on tight deadlines. Wrote about Egypt, Africa and the US and contributed photographs. Topics included gambling on Native American reservations, telecommunications in Somalia, and the secondhand book trade in New York. Reviewed both fiction and non-fiction.

2003 - 2004. British Army Gap Year Commission. Gained top pass at Regular Commission Board selection centre. Passed course at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and served as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Regularly acted as orderly officer for 5000 man garrison in Germany. Qualified as military Alpine Ski Instructor and Ski Tour Leader and instructed soldiers in the Bavarian Alps.

SKILLS

Languages. Arabic and German.

New Media. Photoshop, Bridge, Flash, Final Cut Pro, InDesign and Wordpress.

References available on request