Adnan R. Khan

Since 2001, Canadian writer/editor/photographer Adnan R. Khan has worked in conflict zones from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iraq and Syria. Known for his up-close portraits of everyday people and their daily struggles amid war and instability, Adnan grapples with themes of loss and displacement, embedding nuanced analyses in the stories of the people most affected by them.

Adnan’s long form features have appeared in major Canadian publications, including Maclean’s magazine, the Walrus and the Toronto Star. He has walked with Afghanistan’s pastoral nomads as they struggle to preserve their traditions in an environment bristling with the explosive remnants of war; he has been captured by insurgents in Iraq, turning a potentially deadly encounter into an opportunity to write about Iraqi civilians living in the midst of an insurgency; he has helped lovers separated by the ISIS takeover in Syria reunite after years apart and documented the efforts of artists and intellectuals in Peshawar, Pakistan to revive the beauty at the heart of Pashtun culture after decades of war and political upheaval.

Adnan’s essays and op-eds, covering topics ranging from book reviews to foreign policy and think pieces on the future of democracy, have appeared in publications around the world, including the Literary Review of Canada, the Globe and Mail and the Guardian, among others. His photos and videos supplement and expand on his textual work: he has directed and hosted a 30-minute documentary for Al Jazeera’s 101 East program about ruby miners in Afghanistan and written, directed and filmed a one-hour documentary about Afghan opium farmers that was selected for competition at Turkey’s prestigious Altin Portakal Film Festival. Adnan also regularly produces short video documentaries to accompany his feature stories, some of which can be found in the videos section of this site.

Using his depth of engagement with Afghanistan and years of writing and editing experience, Adnan has worked as a developmental editor on two academic books: Dr. Annika Schmeding’s Sufi Civilities: Religious Authority and Political Change in Afghanistan, an ethnographic study of Afghanistan’s Sufi communities published by Stanford University Press, and Dr. Timor Sharan’s Inside Afghanistan: Political Networks, Informal Order, and State Disruption, a detailed examination of the political factors behind the Afghan government’s 2021 collapse, published by Routledge.

Since 2022, Adnan has turned his attention to the intersection of the environment and migration. He is currently researching the global trade in plastic waste and the exploitative labour practices associated with it targeting vulnerable refugees. He is also working on a deep dive for Maclean’s magazine into Canada’s temporary foreign worker program, untangling how it has become a repository for cheap labour. His current interests remain consistent with his past focus on the world’s most vulnerable populations, telling stories that are rarely told and connecting them to the vexing issues that define today’s emerging New World Disorder.

In that vein, he has begun work on his first book project: an exploration of exile in the 21st century, but more on that later…

This site offers representative samples of Adnan’s feature stories and essays as well as photos and videos. He is always interested in new ideas and commissions, both short- or long-term. Please visit the info page for a bio and contact information.