Matthieu Aikins has reported from Afghanistan and the Middle East since 2008 for magazines such as The New Yorker, Harper’s, and GQ. He is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and a winner of the Polk and Livingston Awards. His new book, The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees has been released by Harper publishing. In this extraordinary book, an acclaimed young war reporter chronicles a dangerous journey on the smuggler’s road to Europe, accompanying his friend, an Afghan refugee, in search of a better future. Matthieu is a frequent guest commentator and analyst on national radio and television programs, including MSNBC, the BBC, the CBC, and National Public Radio. His work was featured in the anthology The Best American Magazine Writing 2012.

The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship was created in 2013 to nurture and sustain a heritage as old as the Library itself: deepening French-American understanding. The Visiting Fellowship offer writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue a creative project in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library.

The Visiting Fellowship is made possible through the generous support of The de Groot Foundation.