Former BBC conflict journalist Fergal Keane talks to BBC Midlands correspondent Navtej Johal about his career and future plans.
Fergal Keane will be at Derby Theatre on Friday 13 November, in conversation with BBC Midlands Correspondent Navtej Johal. It's part of the Derby Book Festival, and the whole thing is being filmed, so it'll be available as a digital recording after the festival if you can't make it in person.
Keane is one of the most recognisable names in world affairs reporting, and he's just left the BBC after 37 years. He built his reputation on reporting from conflict zones with a particular focus on humanity and empathy, and he's picked up multiple awards for it along the way. The list of places he's covered reads like a map of the world's hardest beats: Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and more recently, Ukraine and Gaza. He's known for connecting with audiences and telling the stories of the people caught up in war, rather than just the politics of it.
But the evening isn't just about the reports. Keane will be talking about what went on behind them, too. He's been open about struggling with acute complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which led to a number of mental breakdowns and hospitalisations — and yet he kept going back to conflict zones again and again. That's a big part of what he'll be discussing: the cost of the work and the reasons he returned to it.
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It's a conversation about a long career and what comes next, and with Navtej Johal leading the questioning, it should be a proper look at the life of a foreign correspondent. The event runs from 7:30pm to 9:00pm in the Main House at Derby Theatre, 15 Theatre Walk, St Peter's Quarter, DE1 2NF, and tickets are £22.50.
