Khet Mar () is a Burmese journalist, activist, writer, poet and essayist.
Biography
Khet Mar was born in 1969 in
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
. When she was 22 years old, Khet Mar was sentenced to spend 10 years behind the bars because of her activist actions. Her writings on topics such as
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
and politics were banned in Burma.
Cyclone Nargis
When
Cyclone Nargis
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis (; , ) was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday ...
hit her country on May 3, 2008, there were a lot of casualties. It left 130,000 dead and Khet Mar began helping the victims of the disaster and was almost imprisoned again for her
humane help. As a volunteer teacher and organizer for a number of orphanage schools, Mar was doing things that her fellow citizens did not approve of.
Exile
In 2009, after the close imprisonment encounter, she, her husband, and their two sons came to Pittsburgh to become a part of the
City of Asylum/Pittsburgh as a Writer-In-Residence. The campaign's purpose is to offer safe living places to international artists whose works have been banned in their home-countries, which forced them to become
refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s. She is currently a columnist for Sampsonia Way Magazine, where she writes about "Burmese writers, literary trends, and politics."
Khet Mar columnist profile
''Sampsonia Way''
Her work has been translated into English and Japanese, been broadcast on radio, and made into a film.
Famous works
* The novel ''Wild Snowy Night'' has been translated in English and Japanese and has also been made into a film.
* The essay ''Night Flow'' which described the poverty in the village Khet Mar grew up- Maletto.
* The story''Midnight Callers'' which recalls Khet Mar's experiences being arrested and maltreated.
* Khet Mar has also published several collections of short stories, essays and poems.
References
{{Reflist
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20111220195150/http://pen.org/author.php/prmAID/664
Fighting with Writing, Political Activism and Social Work
''Sampsonia Way'', August 12, 2010
* http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11086/1134788-53.stm
Tea House
Khet Mar's column at ''Sampsonia Way Magazine''
Living people
1969 births
Burmese democracy activists
International Writing Program alumni