A woman with straight brown hair, parted to the side and cut to chin length, smiles gently. She is wearing a black top and is standing in front of a light grey textured wall.

Justine van der Leun

Justine van der Leun is an independent journalist and the author of several books, the most recent of which is We Are Not Such Things: The Murder of a Young American, a South African Township, and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, VQR, The Guardian, and Harper’s, among others. She is a reporter with Type Media and a grantee of The International Women’s Media Foundation. Her current work examines the relationship between trauma survivors and the criminal justice system. She is a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing For Justice Fellow.