Lucas Stewart's Blog, page 18

World Press Freedom Day 2018

Yesterday was World Press Freedom day, and the Irrawaddy Journal took the opportunity to revisit older pieces they published on literary censorship in Myanmar in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

Under a Dark Cloud is an eye-opening account of one Mandalay bookseller’s personal act of defiance.

The (Martial) Art of Writing briefly explores the nonsensical demands of the censor-board and it’s censors

(Note: for the life of me i cannot find the original creator of the image that accompany’s this post....

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

Delighted to say the The People Elsewhere has been shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (Non-Fiction)

The full shortlist is here Saroyan Prize 2018

Stanford University Libraries host the awards, from their website:

‘The awards are intended to encourage new or emerging writers and honor the Saroyan literary legacy of originality, vitality and stylistic innovation. The Saroyan Prize recognizes newly published works of both fiction and non-fiction. A prize of $5,00...

Wendy Law Yone – Saving Face

In the latest edition of the Time Literary Supplement, Burmese-American author Wendy Law Yone writes of the difficulties in translating her novel ‘The Road to Wanting’ into Burmese and the power of social media to shift culpability from the guilty to the innocent.

You have to be a subscriber to the TLS to read the full article, but within, Wendy is at pains to set the record straight regarding criticism of the quality of the translation of ‘The Road to Wanting’.  With Wendy being such a well-...

Mali Hku Shini

Mali Hku Shini (1988) is an ethnic Kachin born in Sumdu Ga (Nbu Baw) village, Ma Chang Baw Township in Kachin State.  He learnt Ka-hprek, a traditional Kachin martial arts form whilst a teenager and trains the next generation from his gym in the Manau Cultural ground in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state.  Once a year, in the jade mining town of Hpa-Kant, he teaches Ka-hprek as a way to distract youth from drug abuse.  He is assistant treasurer of the Kachin Culture and Literature Co-oper...

New Karenni Literature Teachers Trained

The teaching of Karenni literature* and culture has been given a boost this week, with the training of an extra 50 teachers, who will be posted at various locations around Kayah State.

Interestingly, the report by the Kantarawaddy Times gives a breakdown on the content of their training which is ‘inline with the five points of the curriculum, namely mother tongue, traditional culture and customs, famous Saopha’s from the Kayah area, staff rules and regulations and ethics and ICT (computer and...

What is the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs?

The Ministry of Ethnic Affairs is a new branch of the Union government, created by the NLD in attempt to bridge the decades of mistrust between the Bamar and the ethnic nationality groups but it has been left rather toothless.  For 2017/2018, the Ministry has been granted just 0.2 % of the national budget, the lowest of all the Ministries, from which comes the funds for the preservation and teaching of ethnic language literature and the showcasing of ethnic literature festivals nationwide.

Si...

China Offers Grants to Myanmar Authors

China is stepping up its soft power engagement in Myanmar with a new programme for authors, translators and publishers.  The Chinse Embassy in Yangon, under the China-Myanmar Goodwill Book Publishing Grant Programme is offering 1000 USD for a 100,000 word or less book, 3000 USD for up to 400,000 words and 5000 USD for a book exceeding 400,000 words.

All applications made must be for works that focus on China-Myanmar relations and must be submitted with an existing publishing contract/agreemen...

Poetry Exhibition in Yangon

An exhibition on Burmese poetry from the last century will be held this week at the Sea Rakhine restaurant in South Okkalapa Township.  Curated primarily from the collection of Lynn Than Nyi with contributions from other collectors, the more than 400 works date back to the 1920’s with examples from Zaw Gyi , Min Thu Win to Aung Cheimt and Maung Sein Ni.

According to the Myanmar Times the exhibition runs until the 9th April, which is surely a misprint, as that when it opened, but if anybody is...

Hidden Words Review from the Tea Circle

Many thanks to Richard Roewer and the Tea Circle for a generously balanced and thoughtful review of the Hidden Words anthology.

‘… the diversity of the authors is one of the book’s greatest features. There is something extremely refreshing about a publication that did not select authors based on their reputation (some are first time writers) or based on how economical the translation of their stories would be, but rather on the basis of each story’s ability to open a door to new perspectives....

Why Ethnic Literature Matters

The other week,  Mon State Chief Minister Dr Aye Zan, speaking in Mawlamyine, touched on an issue that lies at the very heart of the stalled nationwide ceasefire agreement:

“ … the literature and culture of the ethnic people is very important in our state including the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) by the New Mon State Party (NMSP). We must strive for our literature to reach the situation before 1962. The culture may also face the same situation. We need to protect the r...