The Irrawaddy Literary Festival was held recently, and there are now some more reports on it, including Douglas Long on Late for Nowhere: The downs and ups of the Irrawaddy Literary Festival.
One good point he makes is:
One good point he makes is:
One of the main draws at the festival -- and for many, the only draw -- was the appearance of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on February 15.A larger-than-life figure, it's hard not to take advantage of her willingness to participate -- but a more focused literary focus would be nice, too. As Long suggests in closing:
I had mixed feelings about her inclusion in the event: Sure, she's swell and all, and of course her presence was an enticement to foreign authors who attended.
But it seemed unfair that only one Myanmar parliamentarian among many should be invited to the festival. Also, 10 other literary panel discussions -- which, ostensibly, were what the festival was all about -- could have been held in the time slots taken up by Daw Suu Kyi's two appearances.
In the future, the Irrawaddy Literary Festival would do well to pour all of its resources into accommodating this kind of cultural exchange -- in particular, giving authors who are little-known to the international community a rare chance to shine -- rather than providing space to celebrity politicians who have plenty of other platforms from which they can speak.Meanwhile, in Eleven they report that Indigenous literature coming of age in Burma.