Sarah Shourd

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Sarah Shourd is an American journalist, author and playwright. She is known for being an advocate against the overuse of solitary confinement in prisons.[1] In 2009-10 she was held as a political hostage in Iran's Evin Prison for 410 days under accusations of espionage. She subsequently coauthored a book about the experience with her fellow hostages Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer. On Sept 14, 2010, the Iranian government released Shourd to the care of the Omani government.[2] Shourd did her Bachelors of Arts in 2001 from University of Berkeley. She was also a UC Berkeley Visiting Scholar in 2014.[3][4]

Iranian trial and imprisonment, and calls for release[edit]

In July, 2009, Shourd was on a weekend trip with her then-boyfriend Shane Bauer and their friend Josh Fattal—who was visiting from USA. Shourd and Bauer lived in Damascus, Syria at the time. On July 31, 2009, Shourd was captured by Iranian border police after entering Iran while hiking around the popular tourist destination, Ahmad Awa, in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was considered an American tourist-friendly destination.[5] The soldiers accused them of illegally crossing into Iran and arrested them on the spot.[6] They were then driven to Evin Prison, in Tehran, where Shourd spend 410 days in solitary confinement in the political ward resulting her in suffering from extreme depression and anxiety.[7][8] The arrest of Shourd and her two friends led to a global efforts campaigning for their release. Amnesty International also called on the Iranian authorities and demanded for the release of Shourd along with Bauer and Fattal.[9]

In 2010, Iran said they would release Shourd owing to her poor health condition (she was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous condition) after holding her more than a year in jail after a payment of bail of $500,000.[10][11] She was finally released in September 2010 after a deal was brokered by the Swiss embassy that represents the US interests in Iran owing to the absence of any diplomatic ties between USA and Iran since 1979.[12] Post her release, She stated that she was released because she was a woman and in solitary confinement and that her health condition had nothing to do with it.[13] Shourd and her family publicly thanked Oman for playing a crucial role in making arrangements for securing her bail.[14] She also thanked Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad for her compassionate release from detention because she feared that an absence of such a statement, Bauer and Fattal would not be free.[15] She was officially indicted of espionage and illegal entry by Iran.[16] The then President of the United States Barack Obama also issued a statement that he was pleased that she was released and was being reunited with her family.[17] Bauer proposed to Shourd while in the prison and the latter accepted.[18] They got married on May 5, 2012 in California.[19] They were subsequently divorced in 2019.

Career[edit]

As a journalist, Shourd has published on a variety of platforms, such as the New York Times, Mother Jones, Reuters, Daily Beast, Salon, San Francisco Magazine, SF Chronicle, and many more.[20]

Shourd wrote, produced, and later directed a play on the subject of solitary confinement, The BOX, which premiered at Z Space in San Francisco in 2016, where it was directed by Cuban playwright Michael John Garcés. The play is based on the two-year investigation Shourd conducted while working with watchdog organization Solitary Watch and as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for Law and Society, wherein she collected over 75 testimonies from prisoners kept in isolation in prisons across the U.S. She now works as an independent journalist, social engagement artist, and human rights strategy consultant in Oakland, California.

Bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

Year Title Notes
2014 A Sliver of Light Co-authored with Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal
2016 Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement[21] Editor, along with James Ridgeway and Jean Casella
2019 Flying Kites: A Story about the 2013 California Hunger Strike.[22]

Essays and Op-eds[edit]

Year Title Publication
2011 Tortured by Solitude[23] The New York Times
2014 How We Survived Two Years of Hell As Hostages in Tehran[24] Mother Jones
2014 Torture Chambers of the Mind[25] The Washington Spectator
2015 How Zapatista women learned to wear the pants—literally[26] Salon
2020 Coronavirus crisis exposes public safety risk of mass incarceration San Francisco Chronicle

Awards[edit]

Year Name
2016 GLIDE Memorial Church's Hero Award[27]

Fellowships and Grants[edit]

Year Name
2014 Mesa Refuge Fellowship[28]
2015 Furthur Foundation Grant[29]
2013 Shuttleworth Foundation Grant[30]
2016 Ragdale Residency[31]
2019 John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford[32]

Shourd was appointed visiting scholar by the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Law and Society in 2014. She has been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from Blue Mountain Center, CA Endowment, Entrekin Foundation, Neda Nobari Foundation, Vital Funds Project, Wattis Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation and more.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. ^ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. ^ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  4. ^ "Security Verification | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  5. ^ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  6. ^ "Held Hostage in Iran: American Hiker Sarah Shourd's First Interview". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  7. ^ "'Like an Animal': Freed U.S. Hiker Recalls 410 Days in Iran Prison". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  8. ^ "Freed US female hiker leaves Iran". 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  9. ^ "Iran must release or try US hikers held without charge for a year". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  10. ^ Black, Ian; editor, Middle East (2010-09-12). "Iran demands $500,000 to free US hiker Sarah Shourd". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-18. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ "Freed US female hiker leaves Iran". 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  12. ^ Black, Ian; editor, Middle East (2010-09-14). "Iran frees US hiker Sarah Shourd after detaining her on spy charges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-18. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ EST, Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM (2010-12-23). "Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  15. ^ Shourd, Sarah (2011-12-26). "Sarah Shourd, One of the Three American Hikers Freed from Prison in Iran, Sounds Off". Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  16. ^ "Sarah Shourd: My Suffering Is Not Over". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  17. ^ "American woman freed by Iran is grateful, humbled". Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  18. ^ EST, Ramin Setoodeh On 12/23/10 at 8:00 AM (2010-12-23). "Sarah Shourd on Her Imprisonment in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ the CNN Wire Staff. "U.S. hikers who were held in Iran marry in California". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-19. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Sarah Shourd". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  21. ^ "Hell Is a Very Small Place". The New Press. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  22. ^ "The House Where Our Stories Live". Pulitzer Center. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  23. ^ "Opinion | Tortured by Solitude (Published 2011)". www.nytimes.com. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  24. ^ Bauer, Shane; Fattal, Josh; Shourd, Sarah. "Kidnapped by Iran: 780 days of isolation, two dozen interrogations, one marriage proposal". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  25. ^ "Torture Chambers of the Mind". Washington Spectator. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  26. ^ "How Zapatista women learned to wear the pants—literally". Salon. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  27. ^ "Sarah Shourd: 2016 Community Hero Award Recipient". Vimeo. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  28. ^ "Sarah Shourd". Mesa Refuge. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  29. ^ "2015 Furthur Foundation Grantees". Furthur Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  30. ^ "Flash Grants". The Shuttleworth Foundation. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  31. ^ "Sarah Shourd | Ragdale". 2017-07-16. Archived from the original on 2017-07-16. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  32. ^ "Sarah Shourd". John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
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