Second woman wins William Hill book award

Updated: 2014-12-03 07:11

By Sam Holden in London(China Daily USA)

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Australian Anna Krien has become the second woman to land the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in its 26-year history.

Her book Night Games: Sex, Power and a Journey into the Dark Heart of Sport, about the rape trial of a young Australian Rules footballer, beat six other nominees to the $40,879 prize including the autobiography of former Wales and British Lions rugby player Gareth Thomas.

Krien, who matched Laura Hillenbrand's 2001 feat for Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse, says that the tough subject matter made it a brave choice for the judges.

"It's not a celebratory book about sport," she says. "It's about the dark side of sport ... it can be pretty ugly."

The judges described the book as a "balanced yet fearless" exploration of the behavior of sportsmen and their treatment of women and it was an essential, if uncomfortable, read.

Krien, who had a child while writing the book, described the task as more labor intensive than a labor of love and said she had to overcome much opposition from people involved in the sport.

Second woman wins William Hill book award

"There was the obvious opposition from the football fraternity saying, 'Don't go there, this is something we don't talk about'," she adds.

"Many mainstream sports writers that I tried to interview also cut me off because they didn't think I had the right to write the book," Krien says, referring to her lack of a sporting background.

"It was very much a turf war."

So what drove the author to continue with the book?

"The importance of the subject," she says. "I wanted to open the debate and I didn't want to close it.

"I think it needs more people to get involved and talk about it."

Although the book is about Australian Rules, Krien says the book should resonate throughout sport.

"Sport is a great lens to look at issues other than just the spectacle in front of your eyes," she says.

"Being a sportsman is not a normal occupation. You're a role model whether you like it or not. What you do matters on and off the field."

Reuters

(China Daily USA 12/03/2014 page9)

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