Riverbend (blogger)

Riverbend is the pseudonymous author of the blog [http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ Baghdad Burning] , launched August 17, 2003. Riverbend's identity is carefully hidden, but the weblog entries suggest that Riverbend is a young Iraqi woman from a mixed Shia and Sunni family, living with her parents and brother in Baghdad. Before the United States occupation of Iraq she was a computer programmer. She writes in an idiomatic English with, as James Ridgeway notes in the introduction to the Feminist Press edition of her work, "a slight American inflection." The blog combines political statements with a large dose of Iraqi cultural information, such as the celebration of Ramadhan and examples of Iraqi cuisine. In March 2006, her website received the Bloggie award for Best Middle East and Africa blog.

On 26 April 2007 Riverbend [http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#8633937213645733275%238633937213645733275 announced] that she and her family would be leaving Iraq, owing to the lack of security in Baghdad and the ongoing ethnic violence there. On September 6, 2007 she [http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#828763212765794127%23828763212765794127 reported] that she has arrived safely in Syria. Her last entry was in October, 2007.

Her weblog entries were first collected and published as "Baghdad Burning", ISBN 978-1-55861-489-5 (with a foreword by investigative journalist James Ridgeway) [cite book | first =Riverbend | others=James Ridgeway| title =Baghdad Burning | publisher =The Feminist Press at CUNY | date =2005 | location =New York | url =http://feministpress.org/book/?GCOI=55861100869560 | isbn = 978-1-55861-489-5] , and Baghdad Burning II, ISBN 978-1-55861-529-8, (also with an introduction by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella) [cite book | first =Riverbend | coauthors =James Ridgeway, Jean Casella | title =Baghdad Burning II | publisher =The Feminist Press at CUNY | date =2006 | location =New York | url =http://feministpress.org/book/?GCOI=55861100488150 | isbn = 1-55861-529-6] . They have since been translated and published in numerous countries and languages. In 2005, the book, "Baghdad Burning", won third place for the Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage and in 2006 it was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize. [cite news | title =Blogger up for non-fiction award | publisher =BBC News | date =2007-03-27 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4847424.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-03] [cite news | last =Malvern | first =Jack | title =Literary honour for Baghdad blogger | publisher =Times Online | date =2007-03-27 | url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105068,00.html | accessdate = 2008-01-03]

Baghdad Burning has also been made into several dramatic plays, mostly produced in New York City. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a five-episode dramatisation of her blog, "Baghdad Burning", on the "Woman's Hour" Serial, on each day from the 18th of December, 2006 until the 22nd of December, 2006.

Quotes

"Riverbend is a thoughtful writer whose articulate, even poetic, prose packs an emotional punch while exhibiting a journalist's eye for detail." - Jason Zineman, New York Times.

"It's amazing how as things get worse, you begin to require less and less. We have a saying for that in Iraq, 'Ili yishoof il mawt, yirdha bil iskhooneh.' Which means, 'If you see death, you settle for a fever.' We've given up on democracy, security and even electricity. Just bring back the water." -Riverbend

"Most of the gangs, at least the ones in Baghdad, originate from slums on the outskirts of the city. ‘Al-Sadir City’ is a huge, notorious slum with a population of around 1.5 million. The whole place is terrifying. If you lose a car or a person, you will most likely find them there. Every alley is controlled by a different gang and weapons are sold in the streets… they’ll even try out that machinegun you have your eye on, if you pay enough. Americans don’t bother raiding the houses in areas like that… raids are exclusively for decent people who can’t shoot back or attack. Raids are for the poor people in Ramadi, Ba’aquba and Mosul" - Riverbend (August 30,2003)

"The weapons never existed. It's like having a loved one sentenced to death for a crime they didn't commit-having your country burned and bombed beyond recognition, almost.Then, after two years of grieving for the lost people, and mourning the lost sovereignty,we're told we were innocent of harboring those weapons.We were never a threat to America...

"Congratulations Bush- we are a threat now."-Riverbend

" Nearly four years ago, I cringed every time I heard about the death of an American soldier. They were occupiers, but they were humans also and the knowledge that they were being killed in my country gave me sleepless nights. Never mind they crossed oceans to attack the country, I actually felt for them. Had I not chronicled those feelings of agitation in this very blog, I wouldn't believe them now. Today, they simply represent numbers. 3000 Americans dead over nearly four years? Really? That's the number of dead Iraqis in less than a month. The Americans had families? Too bad. So do we. So do the corpses in the streets and the ones waiting for identification in the morgue. Is the American soldier that died today in Anbar more important than a cousin I have who was shot last month on the night of his engagement to a woman he's wanted to marry for the last six years? I don't think so. " -Riverbend , December 29, 2006.

"I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night" -Riverbend, April 26, 2007.

ee also

*Salam Pax

References

External links

* [http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ Baghdad Burning weblog]
* [http://feministpress.org/book/?GCOI=55861100869560 Baghdad Burning, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2005]
* [http://feministpress.org/book/?GCOI=55861100488150 Baghdad Burning II, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2006]
* [http://www.geocities.jp/riverbendblog/ Baghdad Burning weblog in the Japanese language]