International Journalist, Author to Speak at Knox

Journalist and author John Hooper, who has worked at numerous international news organizations including the BBC, The Economist, and The Guardian, will present a lecture at 7 p.m. October 15 on the Knox College campus.

His presentation, "A Foreign Correspondent in Spain and Italy: from Franco to Berlusconi," will be in the Alumni Room of Old Main. Hooper's appearance is sponsored by the Eleanor Stellyes Center for Global Studies, which brings guest speakers to the Knox campus from around the world.

Born in London, England, Hooper has worked as a journalist for about 40 years. His books include The New Spaniards, which examines contemporary Spain.

In the 1970s, he was The Guardian's correspondent in Madrid, Spain, and he covered Spain's transition to a democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco.

After returning to The Guardian's London staff, Hooper wrote his first book, The Spaniards. It won the 1987 Allen Lane award for a best first work of history or literature.

In 1988, he returned to Madrid as correspondent for The Guardian, The Economist and The Observer. He covered Spain, Portugal, and the Maghreb and witnessed the outbreak of Algeria's civil war.

Hooper served as The Guardian and Observer's Central Europe correspondent from 1999 to 2003, when he was based in Berlin, Germany. As part of his work, he investigated the plotting of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He later returned to Rome as Italy correspondent for The Economist and The Guardian. In 2012, he was appointed The Economist's Southern Europe editor.