Tim Butcher is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author and proud supporter of South Africa.
British-born, he has climbed mountains in New Zealand, learnt enough Albanian to smuggle himself into Kosovo during the 1999 war and survived four years living in Johannesburg.
His first book, Blood River - A Journey To Africa's Broken Heart, told the story of an epic journey he made through the Congo. It topped the Sunday Times best-seller list in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, Britain's top non-fiction book award. Translated into six languages it was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection for 2008.
For his new book, Chasing The Devil, he walked for 350 miles through Liberia and discovered, among other things, that Graham Greene was tougher than many think. It will be published in September 2010.
As a journalist he led the Daily Telegraph's award-winning reporting team in the 2003 Gulf War and was shortlisted for the prestigious Foreign Press Association reporter of the year award for his coverage of the 2006 Lebanon war. He is a regular contributor to the BBC's prestigious foreign affairs programme, From Our Own Correspondent.
Contact Tim directly by timbobutcher@gmail.com and to see pictures from the journeys click on
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20733&id=588317064&l=ec9b07c2d5
for the Congo and on
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117606&id=588317064&l=d4e49e1479
for Liberia.
Born in 1967 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, he was on the staff of the Telegraph from 1990 to 2009. He has written for numerous publications including The International Herald Tribune, The Economist, The Spectator, and Prospect. In 2010 he received an honorary doctorate for services to writing and journalism.
He has contributed to a number of compilation books, starting at the age of 8 when he wrote an entry for a book called ``To Dad'' published in 1976 by a British company, Exley Publications. As an adult he contributed to:
From Joburg To Jozi, published in 2002 by Penguin, a collection of short stories on Johannesburg.
Soweto Inside Out, published in 2004 by Penguin, a collection of short stories on Soweto.
From Our Own Correspondent - a celebration of fifty years of the BBC Radio Programme, published in 2005 by Profile
Because I Am A Girl, published in 2010 by Vintage, a collection of pieces of writing designed to highlight the plight of girls in the developing world. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to Plan International, a leading humanitarian group specialising in children's rights around the world.
He lives in Cape Town with his girlfriend and their two children.
