[R-G] Naomi Klein wins Warwick prize for her book The Shock Doctrine

[Anthony Fenton]

Naomi Klein wins Warwick prize for her book The Shock Doctrine

Vanessa Farquharson,  National Post  Published: Tuesday, February 24,  
2009

http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=1324798

Naomi Klein has won the first biennial Warwick Prize for Writing and  
taken the cash prize of £50,000 ($90,000) - three times as much money  
as the Governor General's Literary Awards and almost double that of  
the Giller.

The Canadian journalist, who achieved international acclaim nine years  
ago with her best-selling anti-globalization manifesto No Logo,  
received the inaugural prize at a ceremony last night in England for  
The Shock Doctrine (Random House). The book examines what Klein calls  
"disaster capitalism" - free market reforms pushed through in the wake  
of traumatic events such as Sept. 11 or hurricane Katrina.

"At a time when the news out of the publishing industry is usually so  
bleak," said Klein in her acceptance speech, "it's thrilling to be  
part of a bold new prize supporting writing, especially alongside such  
an exciting array of other books."

Managed and self-funded by the University of Warwick, this new  
international literary prize is unique in its cross-disciplinary  
nature, being open to absolutely any genre or form of writing.

With only a single, unifying and very open-to-interpretation theme of  
"complexity" - in 2011, it will be "colour" - the prize featured a  
wide range of nominees on the shortlist, including music critics,  
scientists, economic theorists and Spanish novelists.

"Every book was exceptional," said prize chair and judge China  
Miéville, a popular fantasy fiction author. "But of course, it  
ultimately had to come down to one ... The Shock Doctrine is a  
brilliant, provocative, outstandingly written investigation into some  
of the great outrages of our time. It has started many debates, and  
will start many more."

The university's vice-chancellor Nigel Thrift also offered his  
congratulations, adding that he hoped Klein would agree to spend some  
time researching and writing at Warwick as a visiting fellow.

Meanwhile, back in Toronto, Klein's editor at Random House could be  
found at her home office yesterday afternoon, quietly celebrating  
before the official announcement was made.

"I think it's wonderful," said Louise Dennys. "What's remarkable is  
how her book is already getting this kind of attention worldwide at a  
very high, award-winning level ... and this is huge in terms of  
financial value, too."

Asked whether it's possible to predict how a new literary award with  
such broad parameters will affect sales, Dennys said it was difficult  
to say.

However, any prize with a hefty purse attached will almost definitely  
garner more attention in the years to come.

"I'm glad I wasn't on the jury," said Dennys, "because you can imagine  
how hard it would be, trying to compare works from every different  
genre. But I think the fact that Naomi won a prize like this speaks to  
two things - not only to the extraordinary content of The Shock  
Doctrine as work of non-fiction, but also to its huge narrative power."

Indeed, this is what appealed to Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, the  
director of Children of Men, who adapted Klein's book into a six- 
minute film just over a year ago.

"I read the book and realized its importance in factually exposing  
what lies behind the economic system that has been globally imposed  
and that is so harmful to humanity and the planet," said Cuarón in  
2007. "I called Naomi immediately and told her that I would do  
everything I could to help the book get read."

The film premiered as an official selection at the Venice Biennale and  
the Toronto International Film Festival before launching online, and  
has now been watched over a million times on YouTube.

"That's Naomi's strength," Dennys says. "She's able to look at a  
really complex world and make sense of it. As her editor, this was one  
of the most fascinating things about working on Shock Doctrine -  
watching how she wove all the threads of the past 50 years together to  
make sense of what's happening today."

Klein's husband Avi Lewis, who recently accepted a broadcasting job  
oversees with Al-Jazeera English, is currently with her in the U.K.

On this year's judging panel along with Miéville were journalist Maya  
Jaggi, novelist and academic Maureen Freely, British book blogger  
Stephen Mitchelmore and University of Warwick mathematician Ian Stewart.

vfarquharson at nationalpost.com