Join Alexander Smoltczyk, Bureau Chief in Rome of Germany’s leading news magazine, Der Spiegel, for a talk on “Breaking the Vatican’s Walls”.  The open lecture will address the feasibility of journalism within a closed system such as the Vatican, where only two people are allowed to speak to the press: the Pope and his public relations representative. 

Born in 1958 in Berlin, Smoltczyk lives with his family in Rome and covers Italian politics and the vatican. As a senior writer, he has worked for Der Spiegel in the Middle East, France, West Africa and Eastern Europe and was twice-awarded the “Kisch-Preis” for the best reportage of the year. Smoltczyk has studied Economics, Politics and Rural Sciences in Berlin and Montpellier (France). He has also worked for the daily “Die Tageszeitung”, “geo”-magazine, “Die Zeit” and “Die Wochenpost”. His latest book is a travellers rough guide to the Vatican “Vatikanistan”.

Smoltczyk is the first IES Goethe Writer in Residence, and the talk and his visit were organized and funded by IES at UBC and the Goethe Institute.  The talk takes place on Wednesday, September 30, from 12:30 to 2pm at the UBC School of Journalism, Room 104.