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In a panel discussion moderated by National Book Award–winning author and Marine veteran Phil Klay, distinguished conflict journalists and photographers Victor J. Blue, Ashley Gilbertson, and Danielle Paquette will discuss their work in conflict zones on several continents over the past couple of decades. How has their work changed? How has it changed them? And as we move into a chaotic time both in the news industry and in foreign relations, where old assumptions about the international order are quickly being upended, what are unique challenges of covering wars now? And what insights can long-time war correspondents offer as we look out into an uncertain future?

Phil Klay is an author, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and a professor at Fairfield University. His short story collection Redeployment won the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction, and his novel Missionaries was listed by former President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2020. He also regularly writes essays on politics, culture, and American military policy for publications such as the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the Washington Post.

Ashley Gilbertson is an Australian photographer and writer living in New York City recognized for his critical eye and unique approach to social issues. He is a frequent contributor to major media outlets and a collaborator with the United Nations. For over twenty years, Gilbertson’s work focused on refugees and conflict, an interest that in 2002, led him to Iraq. His work from that country was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, and in 2007, Gilbertson’s first book, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, was released, going on to become a best seller. Today, Gilbertson documents global migration in Africa and Europe, and works on climate, social and health issues in the United States and Asia. He writes regular opinion and news stories for outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, ProPublica, and UNICEF. In 2014, a multimedia story on the militarization of the South China Sea earned him an Emmy nomination.

Victor J. Blue is a New York based photojournalist whose work is most often concerned with the legacy of armed conflict, human rights and the protection of civilian populations, and unequal outcomes resulting from policy and politics. He has worked in Central America since 2002, concentrating on social conflict in Guatemala, and since 2009 has photographed the Counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan. He has completed assignments in Syria, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Iraq, and India, and has documented news stories and social issues across the United States. He worked as a staff photographer at The Record in Stockton CA, and holds a Masters Degree in Visual Communication from Ohio University. He practices a deeply reported, character driven documentary photography that tries to both inform viewers intellectually and move them emotionally, and communicate something universal from the particular circumstances of individual lives and struggles. 

Danielle Paquette is a national correspondent for The Washington Post. She previously served as West Africa bureau chief and has reported from more than 20 countries on four continents. Paquette joined The Post in 2014, starting as a roving economics reporter. A native of Indiana, she has also worked for the Tampa Bay Times and the Los Angeles Times. She resides in the nation’s capital with her husband and dog.