Francisco Garcia
@franciscogarciadf.bsky.social
I write long form features, essays and investigations for the Financial Times, Guardian and loads of other places. I wrote two nonfiction books published by HarperCollins and am working on my first novel at the moment, along with a bunch of other stuff
Here’s a new piece from me about the violence enveloping Woolwich, & the young lives it has claimed. It’s also about the mothers who did everything to keep their children safe, only for their efforts to prove unequal to the forces set against them
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
When love is not enough: the mothers left grieving by Bri...
The number of teenage boys killed on our streets has more than doubled in a decade. We spoke to some of the bereaved parents trying to make sense of it all
observer.co.uk
August 12, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Here’s a new piece from me about the violence enveloping Woolwich, & the young lives it has claimed. It’s also about the mothers who did everything to keep their children safe, only for their efforts to prove unequal to the forces set against them
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
Typically excellent article by @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social talking to the mothers of London’s teenage murder victims
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
When love is not enough: counting the cost of Britain’s k...
The number of teenage boys killed on our streets has more than doubled in a decade. We spoke to some of the grieving mothers trying to make sense of it all
observer.co.uk
August 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Typically excellent article by @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social talking to the mothers of London’s teenage murder victims
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Some cool news. Am now senior writer at The Observer!
May 2, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Some cool news. Am now senior writer at The Observer!
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
Thanks to @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social for his really generous review of The Last Bell, and my boxing writing over the years, in the New Statesman. It meant a lot to read it....which can be done by just registering
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
The glory and grime of boxing
In The Last Bell: Life, Death and Boxing, Donald McRae deftly captures the sport’s ugliness and exhilaration.
www.newstatesman.com
April 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Thanks to @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social for his really generous review of The Last Bell, and my boxing writing over the years, in the New Statesman. It meant a lot to read it....which can be done by just registering
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
My new @theguardian.com longread is about the UK's university innocence projects- a radical, if imperfect, attempt at addressing miscarriages of justice. I am grateful to everyone who gave me their time this past year. It is an extraordinary story
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
‘We thought we could change the world’: how an idealistic fight against miscarriages of justice turned sour
When a no-nonsense lecturer set up a radical solution to help free the wrongfully convicted in the UK, he was hopeful he could change the justice system. But what started as a revolution ended in acri...
www.theguardian.com
April 3, 2025 at 9:38 AM
My new @theguardian.com longread is about the UK's university innocence projects- a radical, if imperfect, attempt at addressing miscarriages of justice. I am grateful to everyone who gave me their time this past year. It is an extraordinary story
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
‘100,000 people took to Slavija Square in Belgrade in the largest demonstration in Serbia for at least two decades. In January, students initiated a 24-hour blockade of the capital.’
Francisco Garcia on Belgrade’s Novi Sad disaster, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...
Francisco Garcia on Belgrade’s Novi Sad disaster, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...
Francisco Garcia | In Belgrade
On 1 November 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed at the renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second city,...
www.lrb.co.uk
March 18, 2025 at 7:10 PM
‘100,000 people took to Slavija Square in Belgrade in the largest demonstration in Serbia for at least two decades. In January, students initiated a 24-hour blockade of the capital.’
Francisco Garcia on Belgrade’s Novi Sad disaster, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...
Francisco Garcia on Belgrade’s Novi Sad disaster, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...
If I ever lose millions in bitcoin in a Welsh dump, I like to believe I'd simply get over it and have a laugh
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Man who lost bitcoin fortune in Welsh tip explores purchase of entire landfill
James Howells lost case to force Newport city council to allow him to search for hard drive discarded by accident
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2025 at 2:11 PM
If I ever lose millions in bitcoin in a Welsh dump, I like to believe I'd simply get over it and have a laugh
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Experiencing the sort of feverish deadline mania where I'm beginning to curse the fact I was ever taught to read and write
February 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Experiencing the sort of feverish deadline mania where I'm beginning to curse the fact I was ever taught to read and write
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
"During my reporting, the phrase neocolonial was never far from conversation." Great long read tracing the opposition to a huge lithium mine in Serbia. www.newstatesman.com/internationa.... | @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social
The battle for the soul of Serbia
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
www.newstatesman.com
January 31, 2025 at 1:19 PM
"During my reporting, the phrase neocolonial was never far from conversation." Great long read tracing the opposition to a huge lithium mine in Serbia. www.newstatesman.com/internationa.... | @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
Read Francisco Garcia on the battle for the soul of Serbia:
Read Francisco Garcia on the battle for the soul of Serbia:
The battle for the soul of Serbia
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
www.newstatesman.com
January 25, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
Read Francisco Garcia on the battle for the soul of Serbia:
Read Francisco Garcia on the battle for the soul of Serbia:
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
Good piece by @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social on geopolitics of lithium mining in Serbia. Resonates with Irish context. Ireland also been identified as a 'hot spot' for critical minerals, which has everything to do with its peripheral position within the EU.
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
The battle for the soul of Serbia
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
www.newstatesman.com
January 26, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Good piece by @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social on geopolitics of lithium mining in Serbia. Resonates with Irish context. Ireland also been identified as a 'hot spot' for critical minerals, which has everything to do with its peripheral position within the EU.
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
For the past six months, I’ve been reporting on the highly controversial plan to open ‘Europe’s largest lithium mine’ in Serbia. You can read the resulting long read here if you’d like
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
The battle for the soul of Serbia
The need for lithium is driving a global race for resources – and plans for a mine 120 miles from Belgrade have triggered social and political turmoil.
www.newstatesman.com
January 25, 2025 at 10:32 AM
For the past six months, I’ve been reporting on the highly controversial plan to open ‘Europe’s largest lithium mine’ in Serbia. You can read the resulting long read here if you’d like
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
www.newstatesman.com/internationa...
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
Glaswegians made up 12% of the Scottish volunteers who died in Spain.
In our weekend read, Francisco Garcia battles November slush to unpick the heroic and complicated legacies of four men who differed in temperament but were bonded by political belief - and imprisonment.
In our weekend read, Francisco Garcia battles November slush to unpick the heroic and complicated legacies of four men who differed in temperament but were bonded by political belief - and imprisonment.
What happened to the Scots who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War?
Documenting Scotland's doomed fighters
www.glasgowbell.co.uk
January 18, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Glaswegians made up 12% of the Scottish volunteers who died in Spain.
In our weekend read, Francisco Garcia battles November slush to unpick the heroic and complicated legacies of four men who differed in temperament but were bonded by political belief - and imprisonment.
In our weekend read, Francisco Garcia battles November slush to unpick the heroic and complicated legacies of four men who differed in temperament but were bonded by political belief - and imprisonment.
Very happy to have written this piece on a remarkable book coauthored by four very remarkable people
In the 1930s, Scotland's thriving left-wing movement meant hundreds of volunteers answered the call to fight in the Spanish Civil War.
They were to be part of a doomed coalition - and their descendants are still piecing together their stories.
They were to be part of a doomed coalition - and their descendants are still piecing together their stories.
What happened to the Scots who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War?
Documenting Scotland's doomed fighters
www.glasgowbell.co.uk
January 18, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Very happy to have written this piece on a remarkable book coauthored by four very remarkable people
Here’s a fun piece that I wrote for this weekend’s FT about the history and contested future of London’s Blue Plaques
www.ft.com/content/371f...
www.ft.com/content/371f...
Blue plaque thinking: memorialisation on the move in the London scheme
Decisions about who should be honoured are fraught with controversy — can 2025 better reflect the historic cultural richness of the capital?
www.ft.com
January 5, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Here’s a fun piece that I wrote for this weekend’s FT about the history and contested future of London’s Blue Plaques
www.ft.com/content/371f...
www.ft.com/content/371f...
Reposted by Francisco Garcia
In third place, @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social spent months speaking to the declining band of residents in Soho.
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
Last Days of Soho
A dispatch from the naughty rhombus just below Oxford Street.
www.the-fence.com
December 22, 2024 at 1:02 PM
In third place, @franciscogarciadf.bsky.social spent months speaking to the declining band of residents in Soho.
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
Been a very productive and interesting year of work. Slowly finishing up for 2024, though excited to share some new projects and long form pieces in the NY. Cheers!
December 17, 2024 at 9:28 AM
Been a very productive and interesting year of work. Slowly finishing up for 2024, though excited to share some new projects and long form pieces in the NY. Cheers!
New longread on 'the future of Soho' and its dwindling residential community in the @thefence.bsky.social, which was an editor's pic in @longreads.com
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
Last Days of Soho
Soho is poised at a critical juncture. The issue lies in the rancorous disagreements between its various constituents about the kind of future that should be pursued in this square mile of prime real…
www.the-fence.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:11 PM
New longread on 'the future of Soho' and its dwindling residential community in the @thefence.bsky.social, which was an editor's pic in @longreads.com
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
www.the-fence.com/last-days-of...
My April @theguardian.com longread which was shortlisted for best investigation at last months Anti-Slavery Awards in parliament
www.theguardian.com/law/ng-inter...
www.theguardian.com/law/ng-inter...
From low-level drug dealer to human trafficker: are modern slavery laws catching the wrong people?
The long read: When I heard that a boy from my primary school had been convicted of trafficking, I had to find out what had happened to make him fall so far
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:08 PM
My April @theguardian.com longread which was shortlisted for best investigation at last months Anti-Slavery Awards in parliament
www.theguardian.com/law/ng-inter...
www.theguardian.com/law/ng-inter...
Hello! Getting set up here and thought I'd share a few substantial pieces from this year. Here's my October 5th @financialtimes.com cover on the 'Blake Escape' and why it took 25 years for the British state to catch up with those responsible
www.ft.com/content/2c9e...
www.ft.com/content/2c9e...
Why it took 25 years to solve the greatest prison break in British history
The unlikely story of the trio behind Soviet agent George Blake’s infamous bolt from Wormwood Scrubs
www.ft.com
November 21, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Hello! Getting set up here and thought I'd share a few substantial pieces from this year. Here's my October 5th @financialtimes.com cover on the 'Blake Escape' and why it took 25 years for the British state to catch up with those responsible
www.ft.com/content/2c9e...
www.ft.com/content/2c9e...