Lecture, Barnard's Inn Hall, Monday, 26 Oct 2026 - 18:00

How True Stories Make Us Care

A person wearing a traditional Chinese conical hat stands before an ornate doorway, facing a calm lake at sunset.

How do you get the reader to care about people whose names they can't pronounce, living in a place they've never visited and might even struggle to locate on a map?

American journalist and writer Barbara Demick will talk about her work as a journalist, writing about the lives of North Koreans, Tibetans, and people living in rural China. She will discuss the physical danger of reporting during war, the difficulties covering an authoritarian country where journalists' travel was restricted and interview subjects could be arrested for speaking out.

Barbara Demick

Barbara Demick

Barbara Demick is an award-winning journalist whose work is defined by a signature blend of depth, empathy, and narrative clarity that makes even the most...

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