Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Foreign Correspondent, Afghanistan
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is the bureau chief for NPR's bureau in Afghanistan. She covers stories that give listeners a better sense of life inside Afghanistan, from the increase in suicides among women in a tribal society that sees them as second class citizens, to the growing interference of Iran and Pakistan in Afghan affairs and the impact of Western policies in the region. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.
Nelson came to NPR in 2006, after spending more than two decades as a newspaper reporter. She served as Knight Ridder's Middle East Bureau Chief from 2002 to 2005 and spent many months in Iraq. Prior to that, she was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and was sent on extended assignment in Iran and Afghanistan following Sept. 11.
More recently, Nelson worked with the Orange County Register covering Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Nelson spent three years as an editor and reporter for Newsday and was part of the team that won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for covering the crash of TWA flight 800.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, she is married to Oakland Tribune Transportation Reporter Erik Nelson. They have a son.
Her hobbies include learning languages – she speaks Farsi, Dari and German. She also loves bargaining for carpets and horseback riding, interests she hopes to indulge while in Afghanistan.
