Southwest Word Fiesta is proud to announce that retired journalist John Burnett will deliver the keynote address, “Forty Years of Looking for Hope in a Cynical World,” for its 10th anniversary book festival. The keynote address will be presented on Saturday, October 28, from 7-8 pm MDT. Venue: The Murray Hotel. Refreshments will be provided.

John Burnett, after working as a journalist for 43 years, retired from daily reporting in January 2023. For 36 years, he was a roving national correspondent for NPR based in Austin, TX. In his last year, he covered polarized America to explore all facets of our politically and culturally divided nation.

Prior to this assignment, Burnett covered immigration, Southwest border affairs, Texas news, and produced frequent musical features and audio postcards from his sprawling beat. He’s a three-time winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award for his continuing coverage of the immigration beat. Burnett, along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for the duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration’s Remain in Mexico program.

Though he was assigned to the National Desk, his beat sometimes stretched around the world. Burnett filed stories from more than 30 countries after joining NPR in 1986, including stints in Nairobi, New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, from New York City, Pakistan, and Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, embedding with the First Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and extensive coverage of the U.S. drug war in the Americas. His reports were heard regularly on NPR’s award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

Burnett’s groundbreaking four-part series “Dirty Money”—which examined how law enforcement agencies have gotten hooked on and/or corrupted by seized drug money—won three national awards: a Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Investigative Reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists Award for Investigative Reporting, and a national Edward R. Murrow Award. His three-part series;”The Forgotten War” which took a critical look at the nation’s 30-year war on drugs, won a Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for Excellence in Reporting on Drug and Alcohol Problems.

John Burnett graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has three children, and he'smarried to Margaret Justus, former journalist and deputy press secretary to Texas Gov. Ann Richards.

Since his retirement Burnett spends his time doing freelance stories, bicycling, playing the harmonica, and discovering new Texas BBQ joints. On Friday night, October 27, he will display his harmonic-playing chops by joining our local band, Blues Dawg, from a gig at the Little Toad Creek Brewery here in Silver City, from 8:00 - 11:00 pm MDT.

Check out our website for updates and registration: https://swwordfiesta.org/