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Philip Gourevitch

フィリップ・グーレヴィッチ

Philip Gourevitch

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Philadelphia (birth) → Middletown, Connecticut (raised) → New York City (residence)

Career

Occupations
Author, Journalist, Editor
Active Years
1986-
Influenced By
Alison Des Forges, René Lemarchand (scholar, commentator)

Education

Choate Rosemary Hall
Country: United States
Private secondary/preparatory school
Cornell University
Degree: B.A.(詳細不明)
Period: 在学 - 卒業 1986
Year of Graduation: 1986
Country: United States
Took a multi-year break to focus on writing before graduating
Columbia University, Writing Program
Creative Writing (MFA)
Degree: MFA
Period: 在学 - 修了 1992
Year of Graduation: 1992
Country: United States
Received MFA in fiction before turning to nonfiction

Awards

National Book Critics Circle Award
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 受賞
George Polk Book Award
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: George Polk Awards
Result: 受賞
Los Angeles Times Book Award
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
Cornelius Ryan Award (Overseas Press Club)
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: Overseas Press Club
Result: 受賞
Helen Bernstein Award (New York Public Library)
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: New York Public Library
Result: 受賞
PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: PEN American Center
Result: 受賞
The Guardian First Book Award
1999
Work: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Organization: The Guardian
Result: 受賞
Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant
2017
Work: Support for work on You Hide That You Hate Me And I Hide That I Know
Organization: Whiting Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

1998 Nonfiction / Investigative Reporting 352 pages

A nonfiction account of the 1994 Rwandan genocide based on extensive reporting and interviews. It documents the events, perpetrators and victims, and the aftermath through personal testimony and analysis.

GenocideMemory and testimonyInternational responsibility
Translations
  • Translated into multiple languages (specific Japanese edition information not provided here)

A Cold Case

2001 Nonfiction / True crime 224 pages

A re-examination of a decades-old double homicide in Manhattan, tracing investigations and individuals involved to explore memory, justice, and the long-term effects of violent crime.

JusticeMemoryCrime and society

The Ballad of Abu Ghraib / Standard Operating Procedure

2008 Nonfiction / Investigative reporting 240 pages

An account of abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison during the U.S. occupation, examining the events through reporting, testimony, and analysis of photographic evidence.

War crimesAccountabilityPhotographic evidence
Adaptations
  • [Documentary film] Standard Operating Procedure / Errol Morris (2008)

Bibliography

  • We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (1998)
  • A Cold Case (2001)
  • The Ballad of Abu Ghraib / Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

Adaptations

  • Standard Operating Procedure (dir. Errol Morris, 2008)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Narrative nonfiction grounded in thorough field reportingInvestigative reporting styleEmphasis on testimony and historical context
Recurring Motifs
Memory and testimonyResponsibility and justiceIndividual and collective violence

Legacy

Recognized for bringing attention in the United States to the Rwandan genocide through his landmark reporting and book. A decorated journalist and author whose work has contributed to public awareness of human rights abuses.

Academic Societies

  • PEN America (associated organization)

Archives

  • Contributor page at The New Yorker and public interview archives

Quotes

  • "That the story of Rwanda is at all known in the United States today owes much to the work of Philip Gourevitch and Alison Des Forges."
    Source: René Lemarchand, The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa (2009)

Trivia

  • His book We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families has been translated into multiple languages (around ten).
  • After earning an MFA in fiction from Columbia University, he turned to nonfiction reporting.
  • Married to writer Larissa MacFarquhar.
  • Resides in New York City.