Event: A Conversation with Ma Thida: Myanmar and the Road to Freedom
15JUNE, 2 – 3pm (AWST)
Location: Centre for Stories (100 Aberdeen Street Northbridge, WA 6003)
In 1993, Ma Thida was sentenced to 20 years in prison for championing freedom of expression and literature in Myanmar. She was a prisoner of conscience for six years at Insein Prison before being released in 1999.
Upon her release, Ma Thida continued her advocacy for the rights of writers and journalists. She co-founded PEN Myanmar in 2013, serving as its inaugural President, and became the Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee in 2021.
Ma Thida has been a stalwart in Myanmar’s decades-long struggle for democracy, one made more urgent by the country’s recent military coup and ensuing civil conflict.
At this crucial moment in Myanmar’s history, Ma Thida joins PEN Perth for a conversation with activist and essayist, Christopher Lin. Join PEN and the Perth Burmese community for a discussion that will examine Myanmar’s political situation, its struggle for a ‘spring revolution’, Thida’s activism and writing, and her enduring hope for freedom.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ma Thida
Ma Thida is a medical doctor, writer and human rights activist. She believes in freedom of expression. In 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for “endangering public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and distributing unlawful literature.” She was released in 1999 and was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award, the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, Freedom of Speech Award and Disturbing the Peace; Courageous Writer at Risk Award.
She was an International Writers Project Fellow at Brown University and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, the inaugural elected president of PEN Myanmar from 2013 until 2016. She served as a board member of PEN International 2016–21 and has been the chair of the Writers in Prison Committee since 2021. She was a research associate at Yale University for 2021–22. She moved to Germany as a fellow of the Martin Roth Initiative for 2022–23, and is currently a fellow at the Writers-in-Exile program of PEN Germany.
Christopher Lin
Dr Christopher Lin was born in Yangon, Myanmar, and grew up in Perth, Australia. He is of Karen–Burmese ethnic heritage. He completed his PhD in English at The University of Western Australia, where he spent over 10 years teaching and in various professional roles. After having worked for the UWA Public Policy Institute, Chris joined Teach Well, where he works with school leaders and teachers to improve educational equity in WA and Australia.
Beyond his day job, Chris has been a long-serving Burmese and PEN Perth activist, lending attention to Myanmar’s political struggle and the plight of its writers through his writing and local literary events.
Freedom to Write Award 2024 – Pham Doan Trang
Comments from 2024 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree Phạm Đoan Trang’s lawyer Dang Dinh Manh, who now lives in the United States after fleeing Vietnam due to government harassment of his legal work:
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for honoring Ms. Pham Thi Doan Trang.
As Trang’s defense lawyer during her trials, I saw first-hand the Vietnamese government unfairly try, imprison, and mistreat her. I also witnessed her heroic fight for democracy and freedom.
Without a doubt, Ms. Doan Trang is indeed deserving of the honor bestowed upon her today.
See the full report here: https://pen.org/pham-doan-trang-acceptance-speech-2024-freedom-to-write-award/
PEN Committee Member Activities
Robin Bower speaks with Jenny Rowena
Professor Hany Babu’s wife, Dr Jenny Rowena, continues the fight to free her academic husband who has been imprisoned in Mumbai for three years without charge or proof of any crime. Professor Babu is an anti-caste activist and an advocate for quotas to support marginalised students’ access to education. Robin Bower spoke to Dr Rowena recently in Delhi. See her fantastic article in PEN Sydney’s magazine here: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://pen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ONLINE-VERSION-of-Design-PEN-May-2024.pdf
Frances An attending the Young Experts Seminar on Freedom of Expression
PEN Norway and Utøya, in cooperation with World Expression Forum (WEXFO) are holding the Young Experts Seminar on Freedom of Expression, taking place on the island of Utøya and the city of Lillehammer in Norway on May 24 – 29, 2024. The Young Experts Seminar on Freedom of Expression is a closed retreat for a select group of young experts from around the world.
penperth.com 