IRAQI FEMALE BLOGGER WINS PRIZE

A young Iraqi woman began publishing a blog from Baghdad shortly after America invaded Iraq called ”Baghdad Burning," which it was doing as she wrote. She uses the pseudonym of Riverbend.

Like the blog "Where is Raed?" of her "virtual brother" Salam Pax (another pseudonym), her blog was bought by a small British literary publisher in Riverbend's case, Marion Boyars, and they classified the work under biography and memoir. Boyars knows Riverbend's identity but respects her wish to remain anonymous.

The last of March, Riverbend became the first blog author to be nominated for a big literary prize for a book published in hard cover, in this case the Samuel Johnson award of $55,000 (£30,000), having already placed third in the Lettre Ulysses prize for Reportage, winning $25,000 (£14,000). For the Samuel Johnson award she is up against 18 other books from around the world.

University-educated Riverbend worked as a computer programmer before the invasion which began on March 20, 2003. She wrote that she lost her job when it became too dangerous for Iraqi women to travel to work alone. She began her blog with, "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."

I have read Riverbend's blog from the first day and encouraged her to continue writing no matter what because, as with Salam, I recognized the historical value and the literary quality in her work. Of course, that's what we English teachers do, especially those of us who teach literature and cinema. [Guardian Article] [Riverbend's Baghdad Burning]

"... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend..."

IS AMERICA GOING MAD?

Is America going mad? That's the title of a comment in The Guardian (UK), by Richard Adams and published yesterday. Adams maintains that there is evidence in the books currently being published that America is split in two, right down the middle, and that the fights between factions may be driving Americans mad, literally, as in coo-coo.

Here's a portion of the last paragraph:

"A new non-fiction offering from Barnes & Noble is a new cartoon series by Marvel Comics, to be called Civil War. In it the US government demands that superheroes be registered as living weapons of mass destruction - which divides the superheroes into pros and antis. 'Along the way, Marvel will unveil its version of Guantánamo Bay, enemy combatants, embedded reporters and more,' reported the New York Times. So anyone looking for a sign of the times, here it is: even Spider-Man and Captain America are fighting with each other. All that's missing is a book. Get me HarperCollins. I want to tell them about The 101 Dangerous Superheroes Who Are Screwing Up America.”

Adams also references books by the likes of David Horowitz and Bernard Goldberg on the extreme right, and he mentions some "lefties" too. On Goldberg's list of hate, for example, "is veteran TV journalist Bill Moyers - who exhibits his hatred of America (according to Goldberg) by eating brie and drinking Chablis. According to Horowitz, the 101 dangerous academics 'spew violent anti-Americanism, preach anti- Semitism and cheer on the killing of American soldiers and civilians - all the while collecting tax dollars ... to indoctrinate our children'." What an insane thing to write!

Of course, a sane person sees evidence of general populace insanity each time he/she turns on the TV, too. The antidote to TV used to be the advice, "Read a book instead." Well, not anymore! So, what can a sane person do in an insane country to keep one's sanity? My advice is to listen to National Public Radio and/or watch the Public Broadcasting Company.

One final caution. Beware of the theology wonks. The instanity bug has infected some of them also.