barbaraborst

Photo by David Crary, 2016, Colorado Rockies

Barbara Borst is a journalist, teacher and writer. She reported from South Africa during the final years of the struggle to end apartheid. Through that work, she had the chance to interview not only the leaders on all sides of the conflict but also many of the young people who played dramatic roles in the protests that brought about change. Their commitment to justice and their sacrifices for that cause inspired her to write the novel Bless Also the Youth. She has written two other novels: In Katutura, the story of a girl who tries to feel at home in Namibia when her family returns from exile, and The First Front Lines, about twin brothers evacuated from wartime Sarajevo for medical treatment and the American girl they meet. She also has written a collection of short stories called A Boring Life.

Based abroad for a dozen years, in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Paris and Toronto, she reported for Newsday, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Los Angeles Times, Inter Press Service news agency and other news organizations. On returning to the United States, she worked at The Associated Press as an editor on the international desk and frequently as a reporter at The AP’s United Nations bureau.

She has been teaching for several years in master’s programs at New York University. At the NYU Journalism Institute, she taught international reporting. At the NYU Center for Global Affairs, she offers courses on refugees and internally displaced persons, democratic transitions, news media and international affairs, children and youth in the global context, African current affairs, and professional writing. She has led classes on trips to Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana. She also is the founder of the website Civic Ideas, which publishes articles on efforts to solve public problems.