Salman Rushdie and Acclaimed Authors Join Burmese Monks One Year After Brutal Crackdown

NEW YORK—On Tuesday, September 23, at 7 p.m., renowned authors, journalists, and human rights experts will join Burmese monks on the anniversary of the military’s attacks on peaceful protests. One year later, hundreds of monks are still missing and many are presumed dead.

The Venerable U Gawsita, a Burmese monk who helped lead last September’s uprising and is now exiled, will discuss his experiences with New Yorker writer George Packer. Reading banned Burmese texts, speakers will address democracy in Burma and the country’s defiant literary tradition.

Proceeds of the event will support the International Burmese Monks Organization (www.burmesemonks.org), one of the largest, most successful relief networks delivering aid directly to victims of Cyclone Nargis. The benefit is co-sponsored by the New York Review of Books, the Open Society Institute, and the PEN American Center.

Speakers will be available for interviews directly following the program.

Who

• Salman Rushdie, acclaimed author and Booker Prize winner
• Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature
• George Packer, staff writer for The New Yorker
• Venerable U Gawsita, one of the leaders of the 2008 monks’ uprising in Burma
• Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights
• Kiran Desai, acclaimed author and Booker Prize winner
• Maureen Aung-Thwin, Director of the Open Society Institute Burma Project

When

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Where

The Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street, New York, NY

What

Readings from banned and controversial Burmese writings

Why

To commemorate the one year anniversary of protests led by Buddhist monks in Burma and to benefit the International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO), providing humanitarian assistance for victims of Cyclone Nargis.

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