Our September Author: Louisa Waugh

I wasn't able to find any interviews with our September author, Louisa Waugh (Selling Olga: Stories of Human Trafficking, Hearing Birds Fly), however, to round out her resume, there are a couple of articles from the Guardian about new Bosnian fiction and women travel writers, plus and and blog entries from Gaza for the New Internationalist.

For a little more on the issue of trafficking, the NYT has a good "issues page" to help you get started and I recommend this NPR Talk of the Nation discussion and related New Yorker article on countertrafficking.

Of course, don't forget to check out Amnesty's abundant resources on the topic including FAQ , background info , other organizations and last but not least actions!

For September: Selling Olga by Louisa Waugh

For September, we have selected Selling Olga: Stories of Human Trafficking by Louisa Waugh,

It’s seems inconceivable in the 21st century, but human trafficking is now the world’s fastest-growing illegal industry: according to U.S. government estimates, between 700,000 and two million people have become victims. Following three years of in-depth research, award-winning author and journalist Louisa Waugh has produced a vivid, unflinching account of how this immoral commerce operates and why it thrives. Throughout Eastern Europe, a combination of war and poverty has led to women being sold in bars, confined, and coerced into sex work. And while Waugh focuses especially on one woman, Olga, who tells her own story in angry, heartbreaking detail, she also introduces us to many others across Europe including Nigerian women in Italy and migrants trapped in other forms of forced labor. She helps us understand why, in spite of global awareness, relentless anti-trafficking campaigns, and increasing numbers of imprisonments, this type of crime hasn’t disappeared…and why, in spite of everything, there is hope for change.