Book > Modern Non-fiction > SHIRINE EBADI UP FOR BBC 4 SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION BY DARIUS KADIVAR
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BBC FOUR SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE, The UK's most prestigious non-fiction literary award returns for 2007. Now in its ninth year, the prize is open to books in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. All books published in the UK by writers of any nationality are eligible.
Last year James Shapiro scooped the £30,000 prize money for his book, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare.
This year's long list has now been announced. The shortlist will be revealed on Thursday 3 May at Foyles Bookshop, London, and the winner will be announced at an awards dinner at the Savoy Hotel on Monday 18 June and will be broadcast live on
BBC Four.
Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi and Nabeel's Song by Jo Tatchell are two of the 20 books on the longlist for the £30,000 annual prize.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Rory Stewart have also been nominated for their diaries based on life in Iraq.
The shortlist will be announced on 3 May, followed by the final awards ceremony on 18 June.
'Astonishing'
Judges chair Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said: 'We've had an incredibly hard time choosing our longlist as the calibre of books was really astonishing.
'It is particularly interesting that current affairs and what is happening, in particular, in Iran and Iraq are at the fore-front of non-fiction.'
Other books that have been longlisted include Ian Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam, William Dalrymple for The Last Mughal and Richard Dawkins for The God Delusion.
Whitbread biography winner Brian Thompson is nominated for his book Clever Girl, A Sentimental Journey.
Claire Tomalin's Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man also made it onto the list.
James Shapiro's A Year In The Life of William Shakespeare won the prize last year.
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