Atria Publishes the First and Exclusive Authorized Memoir of Mukhtar Mai, 'The Rosa Parks of Pakistan'

    NEW YORK, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Atria Books has reached an agreement to
 acquire U.S. publication rights to the first authorized memoir of
 international icon Mukhtar Mai, by journalist Bronwyn Curran, who has
 exclusive permission by Mukhtar to tell her story.  Atria Books acquired the
 U.S. rights from Hachette Livre Australia and plans to publish Mukhtar Mai:
 Into the Light in October 2006.  The announcement was made by Atria Executive
 Vice President and Publisher Judith Curr.  Atria Books editor Wendy Walker
 will work on the project with author Bronwyn Curran.
     The memoir will chronicle Mai's extraordinary life as she tells it, in her
 own words.  Gang-raped by a tribal council in Pakistan to atone for an alleged
 crime committed by her brother, Mai took her rapists to court, and, in an
 unprecedented act, won their conviction and death sentence.  Her story takes
 readers to the frontline of crimes against women and the battleground between
 moderate and extremist Islam.
     "My first priority after [the] experience was to educate the next
 generation, because if I had been educated, then that attack would never have
 happened," said Mai in an interview with Curran that ran in the AFP.
     Consequently, her actions to help future generations have been acclaimed
 around the world, and CNN deemed Mai "the Rosa Parks of Pakistan."  Mukhtar
 Mai will visit the United States later this month, at which time she will
 receive a number of awards.  In 2005, Mai was honored as one of Glamour
 Magazine's 'women of the year'.
     "We are delighted and honored to be publishing Mukhtar Mai's memoir. Her
 story is one of heroic inspiration in the face of horrifying adversity," said
 Judith Curr in a statement.  "By using her compensation money to open a school
 in her village for young girls, Ms. Mai has become a great motivator for a new
 generation of women."
     Bronwyn Curran was the first foreign journalist to break Mai's story. At
 the time she was deputy bureau chief/news editor for Agence France Press, the
 third largest news agency in the world.  Curran currently works for the United
 Nations as an international spokesperson for Afghanistan's parliamentary
 elections.  This is her first book.
     Atria Books/Simon & Schuster owns first and second serial, book club and
 electronic rights.
     In 2005, Atria published 18 New York Times bestsellers, including
 Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron
 Ralston, Driven From Within by Michael Jordan, Afterburn by Zane, Goodnight
 Nobody by Jennifer Weiner, and Consent To Kill by Vince Flynn.  Atria has now
 published 72 New York Times bestsellers in its short four year history.
 
     Atria Books is an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., a global leader in
 the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in
 fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed,
 electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult
 Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio,
 Simon & Schuster Online, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and
 the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at
 http://www.simonsays.com
 
 

SOURCE  Atria Books