Myanmar: Report on Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds Symposium, Yangon

Kitaab’s Editor-at-Large for Myanmar Lucas Stewart’s report on ‘Hidden Words, Hidden Worlds Symposium: Dialogues on Ethnic Nationality Literature’  (13^th and 14^th March 2015, Yangon, Myanmar)

Confirming facts on just about anything in Myanmar is like reading a book in the dark – challenging. Yet, last weekend probably saw the first nationwide literature event with a focus on ethnic nationality literature in Myanmar.

Decades of military rule, pervasive censorship polices and poor communication and transport infrastructure have essentially created two literary spheres in Myanmar, those that exist in Yangon and those elsewhere with very little knowledge or interaction between the two. The Hidden Words Hidden Worlds Symposium sought to bring those spheres a little bit closer with the beginning of a dialogue on literature in languages from around Myanmar