Graeme Charles Arthur Wood (born August 21, 1979) is an American staff writer for ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' and a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

and won the Canadian Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction for his book ''The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State.''"Governor General Literary Awards announced: Joel Thomas Hynes wins top English fiction prize"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, November 1, 2017

Early life and education

Wood was born on August 21, 1979, in

Polk County, Minnesota Polk County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 31,192 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Crookston, and the largest community is East Grand Forks. Polk County is part of the Grand Fo ...

, to John Kenneth Wood and Louise Ann Kwan. He grew up in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas in 1997. He spent a year studying the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

at the

American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...

, and also studied central Asian languages at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

and

Deep Springs College Deep Springs College (known simply as Deep Springs or DS) is a private junior college in Deep Springs, California. With the number of undergraduates restricted to 26, the college is one of the smallest institutions of higher education in the U ...

before transferring to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

to study

African-American Studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

and Philosophy, graduating in 2001. While at Harvard, he wrote for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...

.''

Career

Wood is a staff writer at ''

'' and was a contributing editor beforehand. He has also written for ''

The Cambodia Daily ''The Cambodia Daily'' is a US-based English and Khmer language news site that evolved from a newspaper of the same name that stopped publishing in Cambodia in 2017 due to a tax dispute with the government then led by Hun Sen. ''The Cambodia Dail ...

,'' ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to Phi Beta Kappa society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his groundb ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'', '' Culture+Travel'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' and the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

''. He served as books editor of ''

Pacific Standard ''Pacific Standard'', founded as ''Miller–McCune'', was an American nonprofit magazine that reported on issues of social and environmental justice. Founded in 2008, the magazine was published in print and online for its first ten years. It was ...

.'' Wood has been a

since 2014. In 2024, Wood wrote an article titled, ''The UN's Gaza Statistics Make No Sense'', published by ''The Atlantic'' which became the subject of controversy. In the article, Wood stated that "It is possible to kill children legally, if for example one is being attacked by an enemy who hides behind them. But the sight of a legally killed child is no less disturbing than the sight of a murdered one." Some media outlets criticized the magazine for publishing the article.

Recognition

Wood was awarded the 2015–2016 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship of the

. Prior, he was awarded a 2009 Reporting Fellowship Grant from the South Asian Journalists Association and fellowships from the Social Sciences Research Council (2002-2003), the

East–West Center The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peop ...

(2009-2010), and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Center for the Prevention of Genocide (2013-2014). He was a 2018 visiting fellow at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

's Perry World House. In 2017, Wood won the Canadian Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction, which he was eligible for due to holding Canadian citizenship, for his book ''The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State.''

References

External links

*
The New Republic author page

The Atlantic author page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Graeme 1979 births Living people American war correspondents Deep Springs College alumni Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers Harvard College alumni Journalists from Dallas People from Polk County, Minnesota The Atlantic (magazine) people The New Republic people Yale University faculty St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni American journalists of Asian descent Writers from Texas 21st-century American journalists