They held the first Irrawaddy Literature Festival in Burma from 1 to 3 February.
It's gotten good coverage, and there are now several reports of the event, such as Kate Hodal's Burma literary festival flourishes under patron Aung San Suu Kyi in The Guardian.
At CNN Kate Whitehead reports that Aung San Suu Kyi draws thousands to Myanmar's first literary festival -- but also notes that:
Meanwhile, in The Irrawaddy Kyaw Phyo Tha reports that For Bookworms, a Historic Event in Burma's Biggest City, while the BBC radio programme, The Strand, has an audio report.
At CNN Kate Whitehead reports that Aung San Suu Kyi draws thousands to Myanmar's first literary festival -- but also notes that:
It's uncertain whether the Irrawaddy Literary Festival will be staged again next year. Heyn conceived and created a one-of-a-kind festival. She and her ambassador husband will leave Yangon in the summer after four years and no one has yet stepped forward to take responsibility for putting it on again.In The Myanmar Times Bill O'Toole reports that Literary festival encourages bolder writing, open debate -- and it's good to see that even here the same old perceived slights crop up:
Author and activist Maung Maung San bemoaned the fact that not one Myanmar author had ever won a Nobel Prize for literature.Oh, that's why ..... Though he has a point regarding the dearth of translations. (A very few are under review at the complete review .....)
"It's because our books don't get translated into English and French and German," he explained, "but we hope it will change soon.
Meanwhile, in The Irrawaddy Kyaw Phyo Tha reports that For Bookworms, a Historic Event in Burma's Biggest City, while the BBC radio programme, The Strand, has an audio report.