Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup 2022
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup 2022
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obituaries
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • All Woman
  • Career & Education
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Classifieds
  • Design Week
Brittney Griner working on memoir about Russian captivity
FILE - Brittney Griner appears on stage at the 54th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California on February 25, 2023. Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled for spring 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Latest News
April 11, 2023

Brittney Griner working on memoir about Russian captivity

NEW YORK (AP) — Saying she is ready to share the “unfathomable” experience of being arrested and incarcerated in Russia, basketball star Brittney Griner is working on a memoir that is scheduled for spring 2024.

Griner was arrested last year at the airport in Moscow on drug-related charges and detained for nearly 10 months, much of that time in prison. Her plight unfolded at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine and further heightened tensions between Russia and the US, ending only after she was freed in exchange for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

A WNBA All-Star with the Phoenix Mercury, Griner had flown to Moscow in February 2022 to rejoin UMMC Ekaterinburg, a Russian women’s team she has played for in the off-season since 2014.

“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner said in a statement released Tuesday by Alfred A Knopf.

“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud. After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”

Griner added that she also hoped her book would raise awareness of other Americans detained overseas, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia last month and accused of espionage; businessman Kai Li, serving a 10-year sentence in China on charges of revealing state secrets to the FBI; and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive imprisoned in Russia on spying charges. Around the time Griner was released, Whelan criticized the US government for not doing enough to help him.

Russia has been a popular playing destination for top WNBA athletes in the offseason, with some earning salaries over $1 million — nearly quadruple what they can make as a base WNBA salary. Despite pleading guilty to possessing canisters with cannabis oil, a result of what she said was hasty packing, Griner still faced trial under Russian law.

Griner’s memoir is currently untitled and will eventually be published in a young adult edition. Financial terms were not disclosed.

In Tuesday’s press statement, Knopf said that the book would be “intimate and moving” and that Griner would disclose “in vivid detail her harrowing experience of her wrongful detainment (as classified by the State Department) and the difficulty of navigating the byzantine Russian legal system in a language she did not speak.”

“Griner also describes her stark and surreal time living in a foreign prison and the terrifying aspects of day-to-day life in a women’s penal colony,” the announcement reads. “At the heart of the book, Griner highlights the personal turmoil she experienced during the near ten-month ordeal and the resilience that carried her through to the day of her return to the United States last December.”

Griner, 32, is a 6-foot-9 two-time Olympic gold medallist, three-time All-American at Baylor University, a prominent advocate for pay equity for women athletes and the first openly gay athlete to reach an endorsement deal with Nike. She is the author of one previous book, “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court,” published in 2014.

In February, she re-signed with the Mercury and will play in its upcoming season, which runs from May through September.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

WATCH: ‘I may never get a bone, but justice will serve’*
Latest News, News
WATCH: ‘I may never get a bone, but justice will serve’*
January 22, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — With her hands raised to the sky and tears on her cheeks, Donna Lee Donaldson’s mother Sophia Lugg was full of praise Thursday for...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer", "breaking-news":"Push Notifications"}
Smith beats Clayton twins, Thompson third in Sweden over 60m
Latest News, Sports
Smith beats Clayton twins, Thompson third in Sweden over 60m
January 22, 2026
Jonielle Smith stunned twins Tina and Tia Clayton while Kishane Thompson was beaten into third spot in the 60m at the BAUHAUS Gala Indoor in Sweden on...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Praedial larceny convictions skyrocket
Latest News, News
Praedial larceny convictions skyrocket
Agricultural Protection Branch reaping rewards
BY KELSEY THOMAS Online coordinator thomask@jamaicaobserver.com 
January 22, 2026
The establishment of the Agricultural Protection Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is already yielding significant results in the fight a...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
‘We will feed Jamaica’
Latest News, News
‘We will feed Jamaica’
Agriculture minister says some crops already rebounding in excess; Farmers’ markets planned to manage glut
BY KELSEY THOMAS Online coordinator thomask@jamaicaobserver.com 
January 22, 2026
Just under three months after Hurricane Melissa tore through some of Jamaica’s most productive farming areas, Agriculture Minister Floyd Green is repo...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Maitland guilty!
Latest News, News
Maitland guilty!
Cop convicted with murder of Donna-Lee Donaldson
January 22, 2026
Police constable Noel Maitland has been found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, Donna-Lee Donaldson. The verdict was delivered moments ago follo...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer", "breaking-news":"Push Notifications"}
Guyana to issue chikungunya alert following outbreak in Suriname
Latest News, Regional
Guyana to issue chikungunya alert following outbreak in Suriname
January 22, 2026
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC)  – Guyana’s Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, says the government will be issuing an alert to all health facilities urgin...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Latest News, News
‘Puppy love’: Man helps to rescue canines from Kingston gully
January 22, 2026
Leon Anderson’s drive along Industrial Terrace in Kingston came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday when a troubling sight forced him to stop. Along the ed...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Musk’s Grok created three million sexualised images, research says
International News, Latest News
Musk’s Grok created three million sexualised images, research says
January 22, 2026
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Grok, generated an estimated three million sexualised images of wo...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct