Lucas Stewart's Blog, page 21

Podcast – Storytelling in Myanmar

Grateful to the British Council and Georgina Goodwin for this chance to talk about the Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds anthology and literature in Myanmar with Letyar Tun and Fiona Ledger.

Listen to it at the British Council Lit website

 

Image Credit:Wikipedia

Filed under: News Tagged: Fiona Ledger, Hidden Words Hidden Worlds, Letyar Tun, Myanmar Literature, Myanmar short stories

How to Sell Books Across Myanmar

Myay Hmone Lwin is a busy man.  On top of running his own publishers, NDSP, a bookshop at Pearl Condo, the Yangon Book Plaza in downtown, a nascent translation association and the Irrawaddy Literature Festival he is also the founder of WE Distribution, a book delivery service.

Started in 2016, Myay Hmon Lwin obviously saw a gap in the national market for book access.  With very few bookshops outside of Mandalay and Yangon and with a majority rural population, many publishers and writers are confined to selling their books to a minority of readers (despite this, they still manage to sell a similar number of titles as we do in the UK which demonstrates the Burmese well-deserved reputation as a nation of readers).

WE Distribution takes their orders on Facebook messenger (where they have 90,000 followers) and delivers books by bicycle across Yangon and Mandalay.  For deliveries to other urban cities and smaller towns and villages the company relies on the Myanmar Post and Telecommunication service, promising, according to this Myanmar Times article, to deliver any book across the country within a week for only 1000 Kyat payable to the postman.

This last point will be the key to WE Distributions success.  Credit Cards are still a rarity in Myanmar, as are payment processing systems in shops.  Paypal has yet to really work while most bookshops and publishers don’t make their back catalogue available as e-books.  By being able to pay in cash for the delivery (and presumably for the book itself), it’s an intermediary service that fills in the technological gap as Myanmar transitions into a 21st Century mode of business.

Image Credit@Zahnur Rofiah

Filed under: News Tagged: Myanmar Literature, Myay Hmon Lwin, NDSP, WE Distribution

Myanmar Literature and Art Copyright Law

One of the unfortunate consequences of decades of military rule in Myanmar is the staggering number of ancient law codes still on the books.  Many of these laws date back to the colonial era and some even to the 19th Century.  A massive task of the transition is the repeal and amendment of these laws that have no place in 21st Century society.  One of these laws is the 1914 Copyright Act, which is still Myanmar’s main code of law that covers Intellectual Property rights.

An amendment of the law has been in the works since at least 2015 with numerous international bodies contributing to the dialogue, including PEN International.  A draft of the law has now been prepared and is apparently working its way through the lower and upper houses of parliament with the bizarre title of Literature and Art Copyright Law.

Ignoring the peculiar specifics of the title, this law is much needed for writers in and outside of Myanmar.  Just take a look at any of the pallet bookstalls on Pansodan Road and 37th Street and you will see a horde of photocopied titles from Western writers.  One of the most profitable bookshops in Yangon, along Bogkyoke Aung San Road, sells nothing but photocopied books.  For Myanmar writers, protection, in the absence of the law, has resulted in creative alternatives.

ISBN’s are still a novelty in Myanmar.  Before the transition, they could only be bought by a single seller authorised by the Ministry of Information.  The codes themselves are ineffective as most bookshops lack a bar scanner and keep a track of their sales by writing them down in a ledger.  Instead, some writers are now using them as a copyright mark.  If their book contains an ISBN then it is a true copy, without it, it’s a fake.

It will be sometime before this draft becomes law and even then, with a lack of specialists in IP law in the NLD government, it is likely the law will fall short of what is needed (and here’s hoping the process and penalties for copyright infringement are not all written in favour of the accuser, such as the 2013 Telecommunications Act, where anybody can be accused and will be arrested, guilty or not.)

Whilst the law is being debated, it would be great to see more copyright awareness among the literary community.  Publishers have re-issued editions of translations and novels without informing the original writers, and even when the writers are aware of reprints, some are indifferent.  Most writers in Myanmar have never seen a contract that covers rights and permissions, and if and when they do, the language used is going to be a nightmare.  I know from negotiating my own contract with Penguin, how complicated it is.  The terminology, the various formats, the lengths and durations, the percentages, the penalties and constraints.

In the UK we are lucky.  Independent organisations like the Society of Authors offer a free consultation on contracts and will advise on dubious clauses.  Writers with agents will have some-one with experience to explain and guide.  In Myanmar it will be up to the bigger literary organisations, like PEN Myanmar and the Myanmar Writers Association to protect writers and educate publishers and journals on how all can benefit from a robust but fair interpretation of copyright protection.

Image credit at Wikihow

Filed under: Opinion Tagged: Copyright, Myanmar Literature

My Interview with Asia Literary Review

Grateful to the Asia Literary Interview for this interview and opportunity to discuss more about the Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds anthology.

Filed under: News Tagged: Asia Literary Review, Hidden Words Hidden Worlds, Lucas Stewart, Myanmar short stories

Asia Literary Review featuring Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds

The Asia Literary Review is the leading literary journal for Asian connected literature and writers.  This month they have produced a stellar edition with a focus on Myanmar including a chapter from Francis Wade’s new book, Myanmar’s Enemy Within and a very generous feature of four of the stories from Hidden Words Hidden Worlds: Contemporary Short Stories from Myanmar.

Though you will have to subscribe to the Review to access all of the stories (and I recommend you do) Letyar Tun’s ‘The Court Martial’ is available for free on the website as a taste of what is inside.

Image credit@Asia Literary Review

Filed under: News Tagged: Asia Literary Review, Hidden Words Hidden Worlds, Myanamr short stories, Myanmar Literature

Hidden Words Hidden Worlds – UK Tour

The first anthology of short stories from Myanmar published in the UK was successfully launched this month.

Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds: Contemporary Short Stories from Myanmar features 14 stories originally written in Burmese and 7 ethnic languages and translated into English by the British Council.

Writer and former political prisoner Letyar Tun was invited from Myanmar to promote the collection at several venue across the country as part of a multi-city tour, which included London, Birmingham and Norwich.

The first launch was held on November 8th at Asia House in London, with a panel session on Myanmar literature moderated by author Phillip Kim with Fiona Ledger from BBC Media Action and anthology contributor Letyar Tun.

The second launch was held the next day at Aston University with the excellent Will Buckingham in conversation with Letyar Tun.

The third event saw Letyar Tun read from his story at a packed out Book Hive in Norwich on the 13th January.

It was a fantastic week which saw a rare opportunity for story lovers to listen and speak to a Myanmar writer.  Letyar Tun himself was able to meet with writers, publishers and associations across the country as part of his visit, thanks to the support of several organisations including Bagri Foundation, Asia Literary Review, Writing West Midlands and the Writers Centre Norwich.

Filed under: News Tagged: Asia House, Hidden Words Hidden Worlds, Letyar Tun, Myanmar Literature, Myanmar short stories, Phillip Kim, Writers Centre, Writing WestMidlands

Hidden Words Hidden Worlds Launch – London

The first of three launches for the Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds short story anthology will be held at Asia House on Wednesday 8th November 2017 from 6.45 pm.

Writer and former political prisoner, Letyar Tun has been invited from Myanmar and will discuss the anthology and Myanmar literature along with journalist Fiona Ledger and Phillip Kim, novelist and Managing Editor of Asia Literary Review.

For more info – Myanmar: Hidden Voices Revealed

Filed under: News Tagged: Asia House, Book Launch, Burma, Ethnic Literature, Hidden Words Hidden Worlds, Letyar Tun, Myanmar