Writing in a Time of Conflict: Challenges and Opportunities
This seminar is an online event via Zoom
Date: June 29, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 06:00 – 07:00 PM (Melbourne Time)
02:30-03:30 PM (Myanmar/Yangon Time)
Join Zoom Meeting: please click here
Meeting ID: 896 6683 9791
Passcode: 522994
Presenter: Ma Thida and Michelle Aung Thin
Description: In this seminar the presenters will explain the role of writing in Myanmar during a period of political repression and armed conflict. The conflict examines how writers, journalists, poets, and intellectuals have responded to censorship, imprisonment, and violence, often using poetry, essays, and digital platforms as forms of resistance and testimony. The discussion considers the decline of cultural infrastructure—including libraries, independent publishers, and literary spaces—and its impact on education, reading cultures, and creative exchange. It also traces shifts from the relative liberalisation of the NLD government to the severe restrictions imposed since February 2021, highlighting changes in publishing, readership, and literary production. Particular attention is given to online and diaspora networks that sustain the circulation of writing across borders, as well as the role of translation, language, and international readership in bringing Burmese/Myanmar literature to wider global audiences.
Ma Thida is a human rights activist, surgeon and writer who was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for endangering public peace, distributing unlawful literature and having contact with illegal organisations. She was released in 1999 after facing 6 years of harsh conditions. She is currently chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee. She continues to speak out about the current difficult environment for freedom of expression and the cases of other writers in prison in Myanmar.
Michelle Aung Thin is an Associate Professor in the School of Media and Communication, teaching in the disciplines of Communication and Creative Writing. Her research spans in cultural history of colonial mixed-race groups such as the Anglo-Burmese, Anglo-Indians, Zerbadi and other Asian diaspora in cosmopolitan Rangoon to contemporary Myanmar literary production. She has taught writing in Mandalay and Yangon and more recently, collaborated with Myanmar artists, writers and translators on creative and academic works. Michelle has been a guest at southeast Asia and Australia’s most prestigious literary festivals and events. Michelle was born in Burma and her personal connection to the region enable her to offer insight into cross-cultural creative practices.
Questions and Answers will follow the presentations.
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