I wish these titles were available in English, if only because then I’d have the opportunity to put them on next year’s Around the World in 52 Countries.
But I am encouraged to learn that Smile As They Bow by Burmese author Nu Nu Yi Inwa will be available next fall in translation. Considering the book spent a year being reviewed by Government officials even before publication, it’s lingered long enough behind those kinds of oppressive closed doors, and maybe now the book will reach a wider audience, even if it doesn’t win the coveted prize.
After Burma (or Myanmar, as CBC consistently reminds us, like every single second of every single day) has been so much in the news lately, it would be good to learn more about the country through the voices of its fiction writers. So, I guess it’s already on the list!