Award-winning Human Rights Journalist and Shikoku Pilgrim Alannah Travers 

Alannah Travers is a British-German journalist for Al Jazeera and other media, and was a consultant based in Iraq between 2021 and 2023. She has recently been processing her Middle East experiences by hiking the circular 1,200-kilometer Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage. She will discuss her humanitarian and reporting work in Iraq and Kurdistan and her recent pilgrimage to Shikoku at a special dinner event at the Foreign Correspodents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ).

Her work focuses on politics and personal stories in Iraq-especially as related to issues of justice and accountability. She is the 2023 Silver Winner of the United Nations Correspondents Association Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize for reporting on humanitarian issues in Iraq. Over the past year, Alannah has supported the Coalition for Just Reparations (C4JR), an alliance of Iraqi NGOs calling for comprehensive reparations for survivors of atrocities perpetrated during the ISIS conflict in Iraq, and preparing to pursue an LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice, at SOAS in the UK.

She aims to finish the first section of the challenging Shikoku Pilgrimage in early July (returning next year, for the second half). The world-famous route also includes a number of other sacred sites where Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher and poet Kukai (Kobo Daishi) is believed to have trained in the 9th Century before founding the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism.

Alannah says: “The Shikoku Pilgrimage is proving to be a much-needed time to reflect on my time in the Middle East, so I am happy to share some thoughts on this with FCCJ members and their guests. Japan has been very kind to my soul, and I’ve learnt a lot already.”

Doors open at 6:00pm, dinner is served from 6:15pm, the presentation starts at 7:15pm. Dinner includes coffee or tea and one other beverage, choices are orange juice, oolong tea, white wine, red wine or beer. 3,000 yen for members, 4,000 yen for non-members. Cancellations accepted up to 72 hours before the event. 

Please reserve at the reception desk or by e-mail front@fccj.or.jp

Non-members must pay by Monday, July 8, 2024. Online attendance (via Zoom) is available at 550 yen per person, by reservation. Attendees with food restrictions should inform the club when reserving.

https://www.alannahtravers.com/
https://www.instagram.com/alannahfrances/?hl=en
https://www.aljazeera.com/author/alannah-travers

Produced by the FCCJ Associate Members Liaison Committee