{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Myanmar\u0026#39;s first international literary festival opens' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c0a0d8eafeecae14c258' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c0a0d8eafeecae14c258' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nMyanmar\u0026#39;s first international literary festival opens\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Pan from book to people looking at books for sale2. Various of people looking at books for sale3. Close of banner reading (English) \"Irrawaddy Literary Festival\"4. Push in to book stand5. Close of former exiled Burmese writer Pascal...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Pan from book to people looking at books for sale\u003cbr/\u003e2. Various of people looking at books for sale\u003cbr/\u003e3. Close of banner reading (English) \"Irrawaddy Literary Festival\"\u003cbr/\u003e4. Push in to book stand\u003cbr/\u003e5. Close of former exiled Burmese writer Pascal Khoo Thwe\u003cbr/\u003e6. Khoo Thwe shaking hands with one of his readers\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) Pascal Khoo Thwe, Burmese writer:\u003cbr/\u003e''It is unimaginable, especially when it comes of having the freedom to come back to the country. And also it is quite emotional for me to return to the country and be able to see everyone involved in it.\" \u003cbr/\u003e8. Pan of woman carrying books to stands\u003cbr/\u003e9. Various of people looking for books\u003cbr/\u003e10. Close of Burmese writer Pe Myint\u003cbr/\u003e11. SOUNDBITE (English) Pe Myint, Burmese writer:\u003cbr/\u003e''We have to repeal some laws which are not compatible with the democratic system or what is mentioned in the constitution. There are some laws still existing which are not compatible with freedom of expression, with the basic rights of the people. They have to be repealed or amended.\"  \u003cbr/\u003e12. Mid of exiled Chinese writer Jung Chang\u003cbr/\u003e13. Pan from Jung giving speech at opening ceremony of festival to audience\u003cbr/\u003e14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jung Chang, Exiled Chinese writer:\u003cbr/\u003e''I just dream for a day that my books are going to be read in China, like so many books are beginning to be read in Myanmar. And, of course, Mao's portrait will be taken down from Tiananmen.\"\u003cbr/\u003e15. Various of people looking for books\u003cbr/\u003eThe latest first for fast-reforming Myanmar - its first international literary festival - is putting the spotlight on dozens of the country's authors, a number of whom once spent time in prison for their writings.\u003cbr/\u003eThe Irrawaddy Literary Festival, which runs from Friday through Sunday, comes as Myanmar relaxes its censorship rules, bringing new freedom of expression to the country's authors, journalists, bloggers and comedians.\u003cbr/\u003eMore than 100 authors from around the world are attending, including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who spent the better part of two decades under house arrest before being elected to parliament last year.\u003cbr/\u003e''We have to repeal some laws which are not compatible with the democratic system or what is mentioned in the constitution,\" said Pe Myint, who has written 42 books and numerous short stories. But, he added, for the last two years he has been able to publicly criticise the government, a once unimaginable right.\u003cbr/\u003eMyanmar was controlled by a military junta for half a century before sweeping political reform brought a rush of business and cultural engagement with the outside world. Some of the most striking changes have centered on speech and press freedoms.\u003cbr/\u003eMyanmar shut its censorship office in August and a week ago officially rebranded the Press Scrutiny board, which was responsible for censoring publications, as the Copyrights and Registration Division.\u003cbr/\u003eAuthors must still submit their books to the government for approval before distribution, and some of the old laws used to jail dissident writers remain on the books. But local authors say that for the most part, censors have put down their red pens and they can publish freely.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Wild Swans\" author Jung Chang, India's Vikram Seth, British historian Timothy Garton Ash and New Delhi-based writer William Dalrymple - a force behind India's hugely successful Jaipur literary festival - are scheduled to attend this weekend's festival, along with about 80 authors from Myanmar.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I just dream for a day that my books are going to be read in China, like so many books are beginning to be read in Myanmar,\" said Jung Chang, whose books are banned in China. \"Wild Swans\", a best-selling family saga set against the backdrop of contemporary China, recently became available in Myanmar.\u003cbr/\u003eThere have several other cultural \"firsts\" in Myanmar in recent weeks: its first marathon, its first big foreign rock concert - by Jason Mraz - and its first New Year's Eve countdown, an event inconceivable under old laws that banned public gatherings.\u003cbr/\u003eMyanmar's literature is little known abroad, thanks to decades of isolationist rule and a lack of translation.\u003cbr/\u003eOnly a handful of books have been translated from Burmese into English. It is difficult if not impossible for foreigners to read the work of leading local authors like Ju, Ma Thida and poet Saw Wai, who have helped shape Myanmar's tradition of literary dissent.\u003cbr/\u003eThe few authors known overseas - like Thant Myint-U, now a government adviser, and Pascal Khoo Thwe, the first Padaung tribesman to graduate from Cambridge University - have lived for long periods abroad and wrote in English.\u003cbr/\u003eThey are not seen here as truly local authors, although Khoo Thwe was as excited about the festival and the reforms as anyone.\u003cbr/\u003e''It is unimaginable, especially when it comes of having the freedom to come back to the country,\" Khoo Thwe said. \"It is quite emotional for me to return to the country and be able to see everyone involved in it.\" \u003cbr/\u003eThe old government restrictions on publication have also cut off local readers from global authors.\u003cbr/\u003eThe international literature available here has, by and large, been limited to redacted versions of Russian and Western classics, by writers like Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, George Orwell and John Steinbeck.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" 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