Tim Crothers
Author of Queen of Katwe & Former Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated
Tim Crothers is a former Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated and teacher at University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism. His most recent publication, The Queen of Katwe: One Girl’s Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion, explores the “astonishing” (The New York Times Book Review) and “inspirational” (Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesi, a teenage chess prodigy from the slums of Uganda. One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende, a war refugee turned missionary with a dream to empower children in…
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Tim Crothers is a former Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated and teacher at University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism.
His most recent publication, The Queen of Katwe: One Girl’s Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion, explores the “astonishing” (The New York Times Book Review) and “inspirational” (Shelf Awareness) true story of Phiona Mutesi, a teenage chess prodigy from the slums of Uganda.
One day in 2005 while searching for food, nine-year-old Ugandan Phiona Mutesi followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende, a war refugee turned missionary with a dream to empower children in the Katwe slum through the game of chess. It was a game so foreign, that there is no word for it in their native language. By age eleven, Phiona Mutesi became her country’s junior champion and at age fifteen, she became the Ugandan national champion. Now as a Woman Candidate Master – the first female titled player in her country’s history – Phiona is working toward becoming a Grandmaster, the most elite level in chess while she grapples with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries.
In addition to The Queen of Katwe, which will be adapted into a Disney Film in September 2015, Crothers has authored several books including The Man Watching, the biography of University of North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, and the autobiography of UNC basketball coach Roy Williams. He also a co-author of Hard Work.
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Topics
The Queen of Katwe: The Story Behind the Story
Building a Career at Sports Illustrated
Strategies for Building a Sports Dynasty: Roy Williams, UNC Basketball & UNC Women’s Soccer
The State of Journalism Today & Strategies for Teaching College Journalism
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Tim Crothers, Author of Queen of Katwe
Queen of Katwe - Official Trailer
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