WNBC Honors Masha Hamilton, Founder of Afghan Women's Writing Project

On March 12, 2011, the Women’s National Book Association (wnba-books.org) presented its 2010/2011 WBNA award to journalist and novelist Masha Hamilton, founder of The Afghan Women’s Writing Project (awwproject.org). This honor is bestowed biennially upon a writer who has done “meritorious work in the world of books above and beyond the responsibilities of her profession.”


An award-winning novelist and former war correspondent, Hamilton founded the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP) in 2009. Through the project, accomplished American women writers teach secure online writing workshops to women in Afghanistan, most of whom participate in secret, hiding laptops under burqas or walking hours through Taliban territory to upload their drafts. The AWWP has also opened a safe space in Kabul where participants can gather, work, and share their writing. Their work is published at www.awwproject.org, where visitors from around the world read it and offer praise.

“The Afghan Women’s Writing Project believes that the right to tell one’s story aloud is a human right. Those of us who write, tweet, and blog in the US may take that freedom for granted. But through Masha’s vision and dedication, over 60 Afghan women have made that right theirs — and have inspired countless others worldwide,” says AWWP director Rachel DeBaere.

More information here.

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