Meet the OPC Members: a Q&A With Haley Sweetland Edwards

Haley Sweetland Edwards has reported from the Middle East and the Caucasus, writing mostly for the Los Angeles Times, and also for The Atlantic, The New Republic, Foreign Policy online, The New York Times’ Latitude Blog and other publications. She was one of four correspondents expelled from Yemen in 2011 during a crackdown to control news coverage of anti-government unrest.

Current assignment: Correspondent, Time magazine, DC Bureau.

Hometown: Camarillo, Calif. Go Scorpions.

Education: Yale University (B.A. in Philosophy and History); Columbia University (M.A. with a concentration in politics at the Journalism School).

Languages: I’ve studied Spanish, Arabic, Georgian, French, and Russian at different stages and am passably terrible at most of them.

First job in journalism: Back in the day, the good folks at The Seattle Times took a huge risk hiring a totally inexperienced young reporter, who was pretty sure a nut graf was a delicious snack. I am forever grateful to all of them.

When I joined the OPC: In 2009 as an Overseas Press Club Fellow!

Countries I’ve reported from: Yemen, Qatar, India, Egypt, Georgia, Azerbaijan and a handful of other countries, partial-countries, breakaway regions, and separatist states in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Best journalism advice I’ve received: An editor told me that when I find myself struggling to explain a confusing idea, I should give up trying to “write an article” and instead just write a letter to a friend. It works, actually.

Worst experience as a correspondent: I once got food poisoning about 45 minutes into what turned out to be a 16-hour, partially off-road mini-bus ride from Hargeisa to Addis Ababa. I won’t go into the details (you’re welcome), but suffice it to say I don’t think anyone on that bus will ever forget me. Not in a good way.

When traveling, I: always bring 50 SPF sunscreen. I mean, look at me. My ancestors lived in foggy dells; I’m not cut out for an Arabian sun.

Hardest story to write: About four years ago, I interviewed a young woman with her 3-year-old daughter strapped to her chest who had just survived a desperate trip across the Red Sea in what was basically a pile of boards. She still had sand and salt in her hair when I started asking her all the generic reporter questions, like “What was your home like? What are you running away from?” Her answers were all horrific: war, rape, blood in the streets. When I went back to my hotel that night, I remember being paralyzed by my inability to string words together in a way that even began to do justice to her pain and bravery.

Journalists whose work should be required reading: Marjorie Williams for her profiles; Robert Kaiser for his patience; Katherine Boo for her humanity; the late Matthew Powers for his humility; David Mitchell for his wanderlust; Charles Peters for his inimitable charm. That barely scratches the surface, of course.

Place most eager to visit: Antarctica. Or Nunavut. Someplace on the end of the Earth. Or Baffin Island for the narwhals: glorious animals.

My pet peeve about editors is: When they tell you, “I think we need more reporting in this section,” and so you spend a week doing all this new reporting and writing it all up, and then it all ends up getting cut. Having recently worked as an editor myself, I must admit that I subjected more than a few writers to that treatment too. Not on purpose. (Cue: maniacal editor laughter.)

Twitter handle: @haleybureau

Want to add to the OPC’s collection of Q&As with members? Contact Susan Kille at susan@opcofamerica.org.

To see more Q&A’s from this series, check out our Member Profiles tab and read conversations with Steve HermanJeremy GantzHeidi VogtJeff NewtonPaulo PradaEdie Lederer and Naka Nathaniel.