Alex Perry is a non-fiction writer, whose work is frequently adapted for film and television. He is currently at work on Blood Will Flow – the true story of a cataclysmic massacre in Mozambique in 2021, and what it tells us about the global oil and gas industry – due to be published worldwide in 2026.
Alex is also the author of The Good Mothers (2019), which became an award-winning six-part series for Disney. His other books include The Rift, Falling Off The Edge, and Lifeblood, as well as several ebooks. In addition, Alex ghost-wrote Long Shot for Azad Cudi, a British-Kurdish sniper.
Alex has written for The New Yorker, National Geographic, Outside (where he was a contributing editor), Harper’s, The Guardian, TIME, Newsweek, Roads and Kingdoms, The Sunday Times magazine and others. Two articles for Outside were adapted for the screen: one, about the White Island volcano eruption of 2019, became a documentary for Netflix in 2022; another, about a 26-year-old American missionary killed as he tried to convert the Sentinelese, was the basis for the movie Last Days (2025).
Alex’s journalism has won more than a dozen awards. His work in Mozambique, which forms the basis for Blood Will Flow, won a Polk Award and a True Story Award, and was nominated for several other prizes. That same investigation has also led him to be called as an expert witness in several court cases and government inquiries into oil and gas in Mozambique. His 2014 investigation into Boko Haram’s use of beheadings, meanwhile, was requested as evidence by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On occasion, Alex’s work has been recognised in other ways. In 2002, the Indian government tried to deport him when he questioned the state of the Prime Minister’s health. In 2007, Alex was held in jail in Zimbabwe for five days for working without accreditation before being convicted of being a “determined and resourceful journalist.” He has also been banned from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Mozambique.
Born in Philadelphia and raised in England, from 1999-2014, Perry lived and worked in Asia and Africa. He now lives in Hampshire, England.
2025
Winner, True Story Award, Impact. For ‘All Must be Beheaded’: Revelations of Atrocities at French Energy Giant’s African Stronghold, Politico.
“This investigation demonstrates exceptional courage, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth, even in the face of considerable danger and adversity. The meticulous, methodical approach in gathering data—from the survey across thousands of homes to verifying information through independent sources—reveals the profound scale of the tragedy in Palma, often obscured by official narratives. By shedding light on TotalEnergies’ potential complicity in the atrocities, the reporting not only holds a powerful corporation to account but also calls attention to the global interconnectedness that fuels such violence. The journalist’s determination to pursue the story, even after being banned from Mozambique, reflects a rare and admirable dedication to the victims’ stories. This work is an essential contribution to our understanding of the human cost of corporate and geopolitical interests, urging reflection on the far-reaching consequences of our daily consumption. Ultimately, this investigation serves as both a critical piece of journalism and a moral imperative for greater accountability and transparency in the corporate world.”
Selected, Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents, Print Award. For ‘All Must be Beheaded’: Revelations of Atrocities at French Energy Giant’s African Stronghold, Politico.
Long List, One World Media, Print Award. For ‘All Must be Beheaded’: Revelations of Atrocities at French Energy Giant’s African Stronghold, Politico.
2023
Winner, Berlinale Festival’s first ever Series Award. For The Good Mothers, a 6-part adaption for Disney+, by House Productions and Wildside. “The Good Mothers captured us with its multi-layered characters that are treated with care and allowed to evolve before our very eyes. We were moved, anxious and, at times, breathless. The series’ creators have been meticulous in recreating an authentic and detailed world, presented by a stellar cast, with performances that made our hearts skip a beat. The beautiful cinematography, production design and locations contribute to the ultra-realistic feel of the show, which is only right, considering it is based on true events and on real life characters – the courageous women who stood up to decades of oppression and misogyny and helped bring down the Calabrian mafia.”
The Good Mothers nominated for Best Foreign Language Series at the Critics Choice Awards.
The Good Mothers, winner, Best Non-English Drama, at the C21 International Drama Awards.
The Good Mothers nominated for a Rose d’Or, for Best Drama.
The Good Mothers listed among The Economist’s best television shows of 2023. “Set in 2010, this show tells the stories of women who dared to defy the ’Ndrangheta, the mafia of Calabria. It has none of the insidious glamour that clings to the “Godfather” movies—and to many productions made since. This is noir that is uncompromisingly dark.”
Nastri d’Argento (Silver Ribbon), Best Supporting Actress, Valentina Bellè, for The Good Mothers. The series was nominated for three other awards: best series, best actress (Barbara Chichiarelli), and best actor (Francesco Colella).
2022
Winner, Sydney Schanberg prize at the George Polk awards. For The Siege of the Amarula, Outside Magazine. The prize honours “highly distinguished, deep coverage of armed conflicts; local, state or federal government corruption; military injustice; war crimes, genocide or sedition; or authoritarian government abuses” of at least 5,000 words “that results from staying with a story, sometimes at great risk or sacrifice.”
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, a Moxie Films documentary adaptation of Alex’s Outside Magazine story The True Story of the White Island Eruption, on which Alex was a co-executive producer, became Netflix’s No. 1 film in 23 countries on release in December 2022, and made the top 10 in 76 countries. The film attracted an estimated audience of 52-87 million in its first 10 days.
Society of American Travel Writers, Travel News/Investigative Reporting, Second Place. For The World’s Most Dangerous Mountains, Outside magazine. “That the reporter has been to this remote and dangerous area of the Iraq-Iran border goes well beyond the use of first person. Readers can see the men and women burdened with outrageous weight as they trudge up the mountain and can hear them calling for a boy lost in a storm. The writer provides the history and politics that set up this horrifying route through some of the harshest country imaginable.“
2021
Finalist, Arts and Culture Story of the Year, Foreign Press Association (London). For The Plot to Kill the Olympics, Outside magazine.
Finalist, excellence in feature writing, Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA). For The True Story of the White Island Eruption, Outside magazine. “Well-written, thoroughly reported and very, very gripping.” The New York Times.
2020
The Ed Cunningham Award, best magazine-style, long-form narrative feature in print or digital on an international story, Overseas Press Club of America. For The Last Days of John Allen Chau, Outside magazine. “In this superb feat of compulsively readable storytelling, Alex Perry weaves a deeply humanising portrait of a young man with a deadly missionary zeal and illuminates the ongoing effects of missionary work, adventurism and the exoticism of the world’s remote peoples.”
Society of American Travel Writers, Travel News/Investigative Reporting, Third Place. For The Last Days of John Allen Chau, Outside magazine. “Skilful writing and masterful story-telling capture the behind-the-scenes story of a young man’s fateful odyssey to convert a little-known island tribe to Christianity. The story is told in intricate detail … The writer’s own journey to the area created extraordinary and engaging journalism.”
2019
Nominated for a 2019 Edgar® Award for Best Fact Crime for The Good Mothers.
The Good Mothers named a CrimeReads best Nonfiction Crime Book of 2018.
2015
British Society of Magazine Editors Rising Star Awards, Best Print Writer, Highly Commended, for Clooney’s War and Inside the Hunt for Boko Haram, Newsweek.
Kurt Schork Memorial Awards in International Journalism, Freelance Journalist Covering International News, shortlisted for Clooney’s War, Inside the Hunt for Boko Haram and Once Upon a Jihad, Newsweek.
2010
Foreign Press Association, London, Sports Story of the Year, for Playing the Rebel Game (about the World Cup in South Africa), TIME magazine.
2008
Genesis Awards, Commendation, for Eden for Peaceful Apes (about bonobos in Congo), TIME magazine.
2004
South Asia Journalists Association, The Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Story on South Asia, Second Place, for Living on the Brink (about Nepal’s civil war), TIME magazine.
2002
The Joseph L. Galloway War Correspondents’ Award for Inside the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi, TIME magazine.
American Society of Magazine Editors, National Magazine Awards, Reporting, Finalist for Inside the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi, TIME magazine.
The Society of Publishers in Asia, Certificate of Excellence in Reporting, for Inside the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi, TIME magazine.
The Henry R. Luce Awards, Special Citation, Reporting, for Inside the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi, TIME magazine.
Inside the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi was also included in the anthology, The Best American Magazine Writing, 2002.