News
November 2024
Press Release
The Moore Prize Reveals its 2024 Short-list of Books Dedicated to Human Rights
A gripping portrait of a single, heartbreaking day in Palestine; a poignant, unparalleled view of a woman’s fight for equality and justice in a fragile country; a deeply human chronicle of a drug war that has slaughtered thousands and highlighted the human impulse to dominate and resist; the chilling story of the false arrests and trial that could foreshadow the collapse of the world’s largest democracy; and an urgent call to awaken to a humanitarian catastrophe in the most coercive surveillance regime in history. These are the subjects of the five books that have been short listed for the 2024 Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing.
Having risen to the top through 75 submissions, each of these books is outstanding in its coverage of human rights concerns in today’s world and compelling in its poignancy, excellence in writing and unique approach.
Chosen from the 2024 long-list of nine remarkable books by our jury: Jury Chair, journalist and activist Salil Tripathi, Burmese investigative journalist Thin Lei Win and journalist and editor Fahad Shah, the short-listed titles are:
• A Day in the Life of Abed Salama – A Palestinian Story by Nathan Thrall (Allen Lane, Penguin Random House, UK)
• Outspoken – My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan by Sima Samar (Saqi Books, UK)
• Some People Need Killing – A Memoir of Murder in the Philippines by Patricia Evangelista (Grove Press, UK)
• The Incarcerations – BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah (HarperCollins, India & UK)
• Waiting to be Arrested at Night – A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide by Tahir Hamut Izgil and Joshua L Freeman (trans) (Jonathan Cape, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House, NYC & UK)
Each of the books on this short-list contains a serious examination of human rights abuses in hot spots across the globe: Palestine, Afghanistan, Philippines, India and China. Their topics range across freedom of expression, gender equality, dictatorship, freedom to live without fear, persecution, repression or government intervention. Each of these books cries out for an accounting of the suffering of others.
Foundation Founder, Christopher G. Moore says:
“These five outstanding books will open your eyes to the current conditions that millions of people endure. This isn’t a time to look away. Large groups who lack security or protection will not disappear. Their condition makes us aware that our own security and safety depends on human rights protection.
Reading and sharing these five books will engage more people in understanding the fragile existence that is most peoples’ lives and highlight the fight by a small number of courageous writers who investigate the cruelty, brutality, and oppression. These authors have gathered the evidence, reported the stories of abuse, and often have faced arrest or murder by the authorities.
Think of each of the five books as creating a light cone that illuminates the dark, hidden corners of the Middle East and across Asia. Like me, you will discover in the details what it means to live without justice, freedom or compassion.”
Salil Tripathi, Jury Chair, comments:
“After reading the long-list, we wished we had nine prizes to give, and after the difficult task of reducing the list to five, we realise how hard our task ahead is going to be. The five books on the short-list are outstanding accounts of grave injustices in the world today, chronicled by talented writers determined to ensure that we don’t forget. In the weeks ahead, my colleagues at the jury and I will do our best to identify one of the five, while recognising that the other four are no less important.”
The Moore Prize was established in 2015 to provide funds and recognition to authors who, through their work, contribute to the universality of human rights and to give a platform to human rights issues that are important in today’s societies. This unique initiative is awarded annually, as chosen by a panel of judges whose own work focuses on human rights.
The winning book will be announced on Wednesday, 8 January 2025. The winner of the prize will receive £1000.
Notes to Editors:
The Christopher G. Moore Foundation and Moore Prize are named after Christopher G. Moore, the Canadian novelist and essayist. The Christopher G. Moore Foundation is a registered UK charity dedicated to supporting authors who promote human rights and monitor its infringements.
Thin Lei Win is an award-winning Europe-based multimedia investigative journalist specialising in food and climate issues. She is Lead Reporter for the Food Systems Newsroom of Lighthouse Reports, a collaborative journalism outlet focusing on public interest investigations, curates her own newsletter Thin Ink and hosts The Index, a podcast based on the Global Organised Crime Index. Born and raised in Myanmar, Thin is also the co-founder of The Kite Tales, a unique preservation project chronicling the lives and histories of ordinary people across Myanmar and which has been supporting Myanmar storytellers since the military seized power in February 2021. Her extensive global experience includes nearly 13 years as an international correspondent for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Thomson Reuters media company, and setting up Myanmar Now, an award-winning bilingual news agency, in the run-up to Myanmar's historic 2015 elections.
Salil Tripathi is a board member of PEN International, where he has chaired its Writers in Prison Committee. He is also a trustee of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and has been a researcher at Amnesty International. At the Institute for Human Rights and Business, he is a senior adviser, working on discrimination, technology, and conflict. He is also a senior associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership. He is the author of four works of non-fiction: Offence: The Hindu Case about freedom of expression and Hindu nationalism; Detours: Songs of the Open Road, a collection of travel essays, and The Colonel Who Would Not Repent, an account of Bangladesh's war of independence and its aftermath. He recently co-edited, with Shilpa Gupta, a volume of writings by imprisoned poets, called For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit. Salil is Jury Chair of the 2024 Prize Jury.
Fahad Shah is a journalist and editor who mainly focuses on human rights, politics, economy and social issues in South Asia. In 2011, he founded The Kashmir Walla, an independent digital media outlet known for its fearless reporting on politics, culture, and human rights in the region. Shah has been published in over three dozen international publications, including The Atlantic, Christian Science Monitor, Time, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, South China Morning Post, The Nation, Spiegel, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera. He has also produced documentaries and news videos for Channel4, Al Jazeera, TRT World, Business Insider, and SCMP Films. A recipient of the prestigious Human Rights Press Award in 2021, his work has also been supported by grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the National Geographic Society. Beyond journalism, Shah has contributed to academic circles, serving as a researcher and consultant on Kashmiri affairs for international think tanks.
Adrienne Loftus Parkins is a Trustee of the Foundation and will act as an advisor and planner for the 2024 judging panel. Her vast experience includes being the Chief Judge of the Moore Prize 2021 judging panel. Adrienne is also the founder and former director of the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature where she focused on promoting contemporary pan-Asian writing and championing emerging Asian/British Asian writers throughout the UK. She was instrumental in the founding of the multi-discipline festival Bangkok Edge and M Fest-Festival of Muslim Cultures and Ideas.
Christopher G. Moore is a retired law professor and Canadian author whose novels have a Southeast Asian connection. He is best known for his Vincent Calvino Crime series. He has also written half a dozen non-fiction books examining the connection of language, literature and culture. His published essays discuss human rights, freedom of speech and censorship.
The Foundation Trustees are Daniel Vaver, Christopher G. Moore, Adrienne Loftus Parkins and Busakorn Suriyasarn
The winner of the 2024 Moore Prize will be announced on Wednesday, 8 January, 2025.
Photo by Adrian Infernus on Unsplash