Cambodian Grrrl Takes Bronze at SATW Awards

While we spend most of our energy focusing on smaller worlds, sometimes the broader world will give us a nod as well.  In this case, we are proud to announce that Anne Elizabeth Moore is a winner in the 2012 Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, taking the bronze award in the ­­­ Travel Book category for Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh.

Winners of the award, the most prestigious in the field of travel journalism, included National Geographic Traveler, Outside Magazine, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Portland Oregonian and Afar Magazine.

In the words of the judges, “What a deceptively small, apparently simple book! Anne Elizabeth Moore packs a great deal of information and inspiration into Cambodian Grrrl, her improbable account of several months at an all-women’s university in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, teaching young women the liberating power of writing and self-publishing their stories. Moore depicts the essence of a country that has suffered so much repression, war, violence and injustice. She shows us the hope and spirit of the girls and the larger society. As a travel adviser, she’s the best: She relates what the guidebooks say, and then gives us the real scoop, in unsparing detail, laced with humor.”

Moore’s follow up (Oct 1st), New Girl Law: Drafting a Future for Cambodia  tells the story of Moore’s time working with a group of young female students re-writing the Chbap Srei, a 17th-century book that intended to establish a code of conduct for young women, which culminates in a grand discussion of human rights and gender equity, and a hand-bound book for all participants. Tragically, the completed book was banned and censored in both Cambodia and the U.S., but through Moore’s intimate style, the story of these brave writers and their chilling struggle reaches the world.