Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Literary Festival: politics and social issues take centre stage at ‘uniquely charming’ event
- British foreign correspondent Richard Lloyd Parry, Indonesian-Chinese writer Xu Xi and Chinese film producer Yi Han among international panellists
- The three-day literary festival gives participants unfettered space to freely discuss sensitive political and social issues between locals and foreigners
The Irrawaddy Literary Festival recently wrapped up its fifth year with over 100 panel discussions and workshops featuring more than 100 Myanmese writers together with several international authors.
The event was held from November 9 to 11 in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city and considered the centre of the country’s culture. Some 5,000 people attended, with this year’s theme “Youth and Literature” a bid to involve schools and universities as much as possible.
Topics of discussion ranged from political cartoons to writing poetry, the challenges of translation, and journalism in the age of fake news. Engaging in these panels was not a problem for foreign visitors as a group of 30 volunteers provided simultaneous translation for the festival.
Hong Kong-born Indonesian-Chinese writer Xu Xi was one non-local writer who took part in the event.