PEN Melbourne

"They shoot in the head, but they don't know the revolution is in the heart," Khet Thi the Myanmar poet tortured and murdered by the military junta on 8 May 2021.

Saturday 22 May 2021 marks 111 days since the coup d'etat when the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military. Since then hundreds of people, including children, have been killed. The courageous people of Myanmar have taken to the streets to protest, and faced the guns of the military.

Poets for Myanmar will include readings by local Myanmarese writers and others committed to supporting the resistance against the military coup.

Work by the #100projectors international art project will be featured. #100 projectors is a network of artists, writers, videographers and galleries joining with the Burmese people in their protest movement against the illegal military coup, aiming to keep their struggle front of mind through weekly screenings of new video art. Every Friday evening, around 8.30 Melbourne time, the artists drop a 10 minute video. There are 40 projectionists around Myanmar and the world so far in places including Finland, France, Scotland.

Follow #100projectors on Instagram:

#projectorfighters #100projectorsfightfordemocracy #100projectors

PEN Melbourne supports the writers of Myanmar, often on the front lines when it comes to voicing the spirit of the people and speaking truth to power.

All funds raised will go to support the writers of Myanmar in their just fight.

PEN Melbourne acknowledges that this event will be taking place on the stolen land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and that sovereignty was never ceded. We pay respect to the Elders of these lands and to all First Nations people past, present and future.