William Finnegan

William Finnegan is an award-winning journalist and the author of five books. A New Yorker staff writer since 1987, Finnegan has reported extensively on conflict and culture in many different parts of the world, including Africa, Mexico, Central America, South America, Eastern Europe, the Persian Gulf, and the United States. 

In addition to his work as a journalist, Finnegan is the author of the memoir Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, which received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Autobiography and was one of the most acclaimed nonfiction books of the year. Barbarian Days are more than just a memoir of great waves discovered and ridden. It is a story of family, friendships, love, coming-of-age, and the gradual mastering of an exacting, little-understood art, told with such lyricism and insight that even non-surfers will be swept along for the ride. 

Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan has chased waves across the globe since childhood—through the South Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, and Africa. His wide-angle curiosity and sympathies open up new worlds with self-deprecating humor and sensitivity. Finnegan is a sincere and funny speaker. He can talk about his double life as a journalist, covering civil wars and international organized crime, and his far-flung adventures as a serious surfer. 

He also gives insightful talks on how he came to write his captivating autobiography. Finnegan has received numerous accolades for his work at The New Yorker. A two-time National Magazine Award finalist, he is the recipient of two John Bartlow Martin Awards for Public Magazine Journalism as well as two Overseas Press Club awards, both since 2009. 

In addition to Barbarian Days, Finnegan’s books include Crossing the Line: A Year in the Land of Apartheid, which was chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the top ten nonfiction books of the year; Cold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country, which was a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism; Dateline Soweto: Travels with Black South African Reporters; and A Complicated War: The Harrowing of Mozambique. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.