Ian Birrell

From the fentanyl epidemic devastating Canada’s youth, to Denmark’s secret campaign of forced sterilisation of women in Greenland (‘genocide’, according to a Greenland MP), to the all-too-human problems dogging Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s advances, Ian Birrell tells original, important and shocking tales that expose or throw new light on big issues from around the world. He combines rare storytelling ability with elegant writing, fearless reporting and sharp analysis, all underpinned by rigorous research and a keen skill at getting people in tough or traumatic situations to share their personal stories.

“It can happen to anyone,” says the grief-stricken mother of a 15-year-old girl in British Columbia who died from a drug overdose. “Her father went to wake her one summer morning and found her dead in bed.” In Ukraine he finds resistance to a peace deal by people who feel it would be a betrayal of those who have already died – and similar resistance from men trying to avoid conscription: “I’m afraid to die, I don’t want to be injured and I’m not ready to kill somebody.”

Birrell is “one of Britain’s bravest and most prolific freelance writers,” said the judges, praising his “brilliantly incisive writing of the highest quality.”