Monday March 27, 2006
The Guardian
An
anonymous Iraqi woman has become the first blog author to be in the
running for a big literary prize for a book published between hard
covers.
Baghdad Burning, by a 26-year-old author who has won an
international readership under the pen name Riverbend, is longlisted
for the £30,000 Samuel Johnson award. In the list, announced today, she
is up against 18 other books including Alan Bennett's latest
bestseller, histories of the cold war and the great wall of China, and
a biography of the 19th-century cookbook author Mrs Beeton. The
Guardian carried an extract from Riverbend's title last summer.
The
small literary publisher Marion Boyars brought out Baghdad Burning last
year, classifying it under biography and memoir. The publishing house
says it knows Riverbend's identity but respects her wish to remain
anonymous.
It has already come third in the Lettre Ulysses prize
for Reportage, winning £14,000, and was shortlisted for an Index on
Censorship freedom of expression award.
Riverbend began the blog
with the words: "I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's
all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway."
University-educated Riverbend worked as a computer programmer before the invasion which began on March 20, 2003.
She lost her job, she told her readers, when it became too dangerous for Iraqi women to travel to work alone.
The Long list
Untold Stories Alan Bennett
The Sale of the Late King's Goods Gerry Brotton
Bad Faith Carmen Callil
The Ongoing Moment Geoff Dyer
The Cold War John Lewis Gaddis
Mozart's Women Jane Glover
The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton Kathryn Hughes
The Sailor in the Wardrobe Hugo Hamilton
Post War Tony Judt
The Great Wall: Against the World 1000BC - 2000AD Julia Lovell
Ancient Americans Charles C Mann
Rosebery Leo McKinstry
Ivan's War Catherine Merridale
Before the Fall-Out Diana Preston
The Orientalist Tom Reiss
Baghdad Burning Riverbend (anonymous, but identity known)
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare James Shapiro
Witnesses of War Nicholas Stargardt
After the Victorians AN Wilson
Buy Baghdad Burning at the Guardian bookshop
