Author

Anna J. James

Anna is an award-winning journalist originally from Sydney, Australia. She began her professional career in publishing at Wiley and then reported for Major League Baseball’s international office. Anna has written for Entrepreneur, Fox Sports, NSW Parliament, Narratively, ABC, Fortune, and other outlets in addition to regular guest spots on radio and podcasts. In 2017, she was awarded the Australian Press Council’s Journalism Student of the Year. The same year, she co-hosted a radio program in Byron Bay that won a Walkley Award for Innovation in Journalism grant. She is currently completing her thesis, Why We Need Baseball, within the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Victoria. She is happy to call Victoria home.

Policing

Are Victoria police chasing a sex trafficking ring that doesn't exist?

By Anna J. James
Jul 10, 2020

An operation seemingly built on a hunch, VicPD’s Project No More did not find any evidence of sex trafficking but did incense many of the city's sex workers, who insist they are working by choice

Homelessness

Can Victoria fix homelessness without a return to institutionalization?

By Anna J. James
Jul 4, 2020

Only four hospital beds exist in Victoria for people presenting with an emergency mental health issue. If you’re non-violent but experiencing a severe psychiatric crisis in Victoria, there’s basically nowhere to go

Homelessness

Why BC Homeless Communities Were Spared By COVID-19

By Anna J. James
Jun 11, 2020

Despite fears they would be among the hardest hit by the pandemic, North America’s street communities emerged relatively unscathed

Homelessness

Inside Victoria’s New Temporary Hotels for the Homeless

By Anna J. James
Jun 4, 2020

Clean rooms, round-the-clock outreach workers, and semi-regular fires

Overdose Crisis

Province-Backed Anti-Overdose App Criticized As Out-Of-Touch

By Anna J. James
May 22, 2020

As one recovering addict told The Capital, when you’re looking to inject drugs “it’s not like you’ll look around for Wi-Fi” 

COVID-19

As Victoria’s Tent Cities are Dismantled, A New Neighbourhood Braces for the Consequences

By Anna J. James
May 17, 2020

Topaz Park immediately became an epicentre of crime and disorder, and Burnside-Gorge now fears the same fate will befall them

COVID-19

How Victoria’s Topaz COVID-19 Homeless Camp Went So Horribly Wrong

By Anna J. James
May 2, 2020

The camp site was designed to safely accommodate the vulnerable during the pandemic. Instead, it became a hotbed of crime, anarchy, and death.

COVID-19

What COVID-19 Could Do to Victoria's Homeless

By Anna J. James
Mar 18, 2020

The street population could be among the hardest hit by the virus. What is being done to protect them?