__NOTOC__ Riverbend is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ous author of the

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

"Baghdad Burning", launched on August 17, 2003. Riverbend's existence and identity remain a mystery, but the weblog entries suggest that she is a young

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i woman from a mixed

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

and Sunni family, living with her parents and brother in Baghdad. Before the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

occupation of Iraq Occupation of Iraq or Iraq occupation may refer to: * Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011) (occupation by American, British and Italian forces) * Mandatory Iraq (Iraq under British Administration, 1921–1932) * Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) ...

she was a

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. She writes in an

idiomatic Idiom, also called idiomaticness or idiomaticity, is the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language. Idiom is the realized structure of a language, as opposed to possible but unrealized structures that could have develope ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

with, as

James Ridgeway James Fowler Ridgeway (November 1, 1936February 13, 2021) was an American investigative journalist. In a career spanning six decades, he covered many topics including automobile industry safety, American universities, far-right movements includi ...

notes in the introduction to the

Feminist Press The Feminist Press (officially The Feminist Press at CUNY) is an American independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes writing by people who share an activist spirit and a belief in ...

edition of her work, "a slight American inflection". This has led to some controversy over her identity, as some claim she is an American who used a pseudonym to express their thoughts on U.S. involvement in Iraq. These concerns increased when a blogger did try to imitate the young blogger by creating a blog and using the name riverSbend to confuse those who followed the original blog. Riverbend talked about this blogger and corrected the narrative in her blog post on Wednesday, October 29, 2003. Riverbend's blog combines political statements with a large dose of Iraqi cultural information, such as the celebration of

Ramadhan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. Co ...

and examples of

Iraqi cuisine Iraqi cuisine (Arabic: المطبخ العراقي Kurdish: خواردنی عێراقی) or Mesopotamian cuisine is a Middle Eastern cuisine that has its origins from Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and the other groups of the re ...

. In March 2006, her website received the Bloggie award for Best Middle East and Africa blog. On April 26, 2007, Riverbend announced that she and her family would be leaving Iraq, owing to the lack of security in Baghdad and the ongoing violence there. On September 6, 2007, she reported that she had arrived safely in Syria. Her last "regular" entry was on October 22, 2007, after a gruelling exit from and return to Syria to have her passport stamped as a "temporary visitor". On April 9, 2013, she updated her blog with a post "Ten Years On", in which she said she had moved on from Syria "before the heavy fighting, before it got ugly" and considered herself fortunate. She was a year in another country and moved again to a third Arab country "with the hope that, this time, it'll stick until... Until when? Even the pessimists aren't sure anymore. When will things improve? When will be able to live normally? How long will it take?" She shared reflections on what Iraqis had learned in the ten years since the Fall of Baghdad. There have been no further entries at her blog.

Publishing

Riverbend's weblog entries were first collected and published as ''Baghdad Burning'', (with a foreword by the investigative journalist James Ridgeway), and ''Baghdad Burning II'', , (also with an introduction by James Ridgeway and Jean Casella). They have since been translated and published in numerous countries and languages. In 2005, ''Baghdad Burning'' won third place for the

Lettre Ulysses Award The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary reportage, which must have been first published during the previous two years. The award was initiated by Lettre Inter ...

for the Art of Reportage and in 2006 it was longlisted for the

Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

.
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- ''Baghdad Burning'' has also been made into several dramatic plays, mostly produced in New York City.

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

broadcast a five-episode dramatization of her blog, "Baghdad Burning", on the ''Woman's Hour'' serial, on each day from the 18 to 22 December 2006.

References

External links

''Baghdad Burning'' weblog''Baghdad Burning'', The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2005''Baghdad Burning II'', The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riverbend 1979 births Living people Civilians in war Iraqi bloggers Iraqi women writers Iraqi writers Anonymous bloggers Iraqi women bloggers

Publishing

See also

References

External links