Evelyn Iritani

Evelyn Iritani is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Safe Passage: The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians By Sea During World War II (March 2026 FSG). Publisher’s Weekly called Safe Passage “gripping and immersive” and historian/author Frank Abe described it as a “meticulously researched page- turner” and a “missing piece of the Japanese American experience.” Her previous book, An Ocean Between Us: The Changing Relationship of Japan and the United States Told in Four Stories From the Life of An American Town, won a Washington Governor’s Writers Day Award. A graduate of the University of Washington, Iritani began her career at the Seattle Post- Intelligencer and moved to the Los Angeles Times in 1995 to cover international economics. Her reporting garnered numerous awards, including the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the George Polk Award for Economics Reporting for a series she co-authored on Wal-Mart. Her work allowed her to indulge in some of her favorite pastimes: exploring street markets, eating rich foods, and getting lost – and hopefully found – in new places. For more, please visit www.evelyniritani.com.