Helen Benedict

THE LONELY SOLDIER by HELEN BENEDICT
Photo by Scott R. Ridgway

Helen Benedict is the author of four novels and four books of nonfiction. She is now at work on a nonfiction book, THE LONELY SOLDIER: THE PRIVATE WAR OF WOMEN SERVING IN IRAQ, to be published by Beacon Press in April 2009. Her article on the subject, "The Private War of Women Soldiers" (Salon, March 2007) was awarded The James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism in 2008.

Benedict's latest novel, THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE, which Kirkus Reviews called "a compelling drama of a young woman's brave stand against abuse and intolerance" came out from Viking in late 2007.

Benedict's other novels are: THE SAILOR'S WIFE, BAD ANGEL and A WORLD LIKE THIS.

Her nonfiction includes VIRGIN OR VAMP: HOW THE PRESS COVERS SEX CRIMES, PORTRAITS IN PRINT and RECOVERY: HOW TO SURVIVE SEXUAL ASSAULT.

Helen Benedict's book reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Salon, The Women's Review of Books, The Nation, Poets & Writers Magazine, and elsewhere. She holds an MA from the University of California-Berkeley, and is a professor at Columbia University.

Benedict grew up in England, Mauritius, Seychelles and California, the daughter of anthropologists. As someone who has moved between countries often, she is especially interested in the writer's art of entering lives, cultures and skins other than one's own, and in social justice.