| Sam Forster | |
| Birth Date: | 17 December 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Edmonton, Canada |
| Education: | University of Alberta, University of Toronto |
| Nationality: | Canadian, American |
| Occupation: | writer, journalist, cultural critic and war correspondent |
Samuel Forster is a Canadian American journalist and cultural critic whose 2024 book, Americosis, was awarded the Sutherland House Prize for non-fiction.[1] [2]
Forster has a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Alberta and a master's degree from the University of Toronto.[3]
While in Toronto, Forster was a graduate associate at the centre for ethics where he researched the application of neuroscientific evidence in criminal court proceedings.[4]
Forster has contributed to various print and digital publications, including Canada's National Observer[5] and City & State, primarily writing about culture and economic affairs.[6]
In 2022, Forster worked for The Buenos Aires Times, an English-language newspaper owned by Perfil.[7]
During the spring of 2023, Forster travelled throughout Ukraine, covering the Russo-Ukrainian War as a correspondent for The National Post[8] and Unherd.[9]
In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, while reporting on pro-Palestine demonstrations in Montreal, Forster published video footage that became the centre of controversy in the Canadian media.[10] Responding to the footage, Canadian Minister of Immigration Marc Miller released a public statement expressing serious concern: "Disgusted and ashamed to see these scenes glorifying death and terror, in Montreal, the city I love and the city I represent. Hamas is a terrorist organization and nobody should glorify their bloody cowardly violence."[11] Alberta member of parliament Mike Lake also responded to the footage, condemning the protestors.[12]
In the winter of 2024, Forster travelled to Lebanon and Israel to report on the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict for The Spectator.[13] [14]
In January 2024 Forster released his first book, Americosis, which received the first Sutherland House non-fiction prize.[15]
The American Spectator praised Americosis for its creative ambition, noting that "like the documentarian Frederick Wiseman, Forster possesses a kind of cinema verité style for his subject."[16]
Forster's second book, Seven Shoulders: Taxonomizing Racism in Modern America, generated significant international controversy upon its announcement due to Forster's immersive journalistic approach.[17] [18] [19] The work chronicles Forster going undercover as a black man while traveling across the United States in order to document modern forms of racism. Forster cited the work of prominent civil rights leader and Martin Luther King Jr. ally John Howard Griffin, who wrote a similar book titled Black Like Me, as literary inspiration.[20] Black Like Me is widely regarded as one of the most important literary contributions of the Civil Rights movement, with Griffin receiving overwhelming praise for his journalistic efforts to expose the realities of the Jim Crow South to American whites.
In a public statement issued after the book's release, Forster emphasized the importance of engaging with black writers and leaders on the issue of race relations, pointing out that Seven Shoulders features interviews with multiple black subjects. He also clarified that the work was meant to be understood as a piece of gonzo journalism rather than as a conventionally structured non-fiction book.[21]
In August of 2024, Canadian Affairs announced that Forster had joined the outlet as a staff reporter. In a public statement posted to X, the outlet's publisher Lauren Heuser said, "We're incredibly excited to welcome @ForsterSam to our team. Sam has the intrepid nature we look for in our reporters."[22] [23]