Alex Strick van Linschoten

www.alexstrick.com

A graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BA Arabic and Persian), Alex Strick van Linschoten first came to Afghanistan six years ago as a tourist. In 2006, he founded AfghanWire together with Felix Kuehn, an online research and media-monitoring group to give a more prominent voice to local Afghan media. In spring 2010 he published My Life With the Taliban, for which he was a co-editor, to critical acclaim, and is also co-editor of a translated volume of Taliban poetry. He co-authored 'An Enemy We Created' as well. All are available for purchase on Amazon. He is currently working on a book and PhD at the War Studies Department of King's College London on the identity of the Afghan Taliban movement 1978-2001.

He has worked as a freelance journalist from Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Somalia, writing for Foreign Policy, International Affairs, ABC Nyheter, The Sunday Times (UK), The Globe and Mail (Canada) and The Tablet (UK). He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu and German and can get by in French and Dutch.