Ma Thida |
October 17, 2008
Ma Thida, a Burmese author/doctor, explored the intersections of her life and Burmese post-colonial politics during a lecture on Thursday.
Thida, this year’s International Writers Project fellow at Brown, also gave a reading from her short story "Waiting." The story is based on the lives of one of her fellow political dissidents and his wife, both of whom long to meet each other in the open air. (A segment of her reading is available below.)
Thida first became involved in opposition politics as a medic and a reporter, following the Burmese student protests of the late eighties. In 1993, after the publication of her novel Sunflower, she was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
During Thida’s time in prison, her release became an international cause and she remembers joyfully the celebration of her 29th birthday at an international women's conference. In prison, Thida accumulated numerous medical problems, she said, so that many people thought she would not survive her sentence.
Released early in 1999, she has spent the last decade working on various media projects and running her non-profit clinics.
Thida has been active on campus since arriving this fall, giving talks and readings – particularly marking the recent one-year anniversary of the violent crackdown on peaceful protests in her home country.
By Watson Student Rapporteur Brenna Carmody '09
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