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Reading Burma: A Benefit for Cyclone Relief and Freedom of Expression in Burma/Myanmar

 

 

September 23, 2008 | Cooper Union’s Great Hall | New York City

With: Kiran Desai, Venerable U Gawsita, Siri Hustvedt, Joseph Lelyveld, George Packer, Orhan Pamuk, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, and Salman Rushdie

On September 23, PEN joined with the New York Review of Books and the Open Society Institute’s Burma Project to stage a reading featuring suppressed and silenced voices from Burma/Myanmar.

PHOTOS    
PHOTO GALLERY
Copyright © 2008 Beowulf Sheehan/
PEN American Center     EVENT Presented by The Burma Project of OSI, PEN American Center, and The New York Review of Books

On September 23, PEN, the OSI, and NYRB staged a reading featuring suppressed and silenced voices from Burma/Myanmar.

PEN Members read in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the 1988 popular uprising demanding democracy in Burma, as well as the first anniversary of last year’s monks’ protests. The event also featured a conversation with George Packer and the Venerable U Gawsita, leader of the 2007 Monks’ Uprising.

The event raised over $13,000 for the International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO), the largest network of Burmese Buddhist monks distributing relief aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

>> Read a detailed account of the evening     AUDIO

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  Entire event

  LISTEN BY SEGMENT

  Introduction: Salman Rushdie          Maureen Aung Thwin         Joseph Lelyveld         Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro         George Packer & U Gawsita         Orhan Pamuk & Kiran Desai         Siri Hustvedt         Orhan Pamuk         Salman Rushdie         Conclusion & blessing