Monday 16 February 2015, 5:30pm 
SOAS Brunei Lecture Theatre

Voices from Tibet assembles reportage by Tsering Woeser and Wang Lixiong in translation that captures many facets of the upheavals wrought by a rising China upon a sacred land and its pious people. With the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in a virtual lockdown after the 2008 unrest, this book sheds important light on the simmering frustrations that touched off the unrest and Beijing’s relentless control tactics in its wake. The authors also interrogate long-standing assumptions about Tibetans’ political future.Woeser and Wang are widely regarded as the most eloquent, insightful writers on contemporary Tibet. Their reportage on the economic exploitation, environmental degradation, cultural destruction and political subjugation that plague the increasingly Chinese-dominated TAR is as powerful as it is profound, ardent and analytical in equal measure, and not in the least bit ideological.

The talk will discuss the making of this book – the first to be published in North America – and the facts on the ground in Tibet, and include selected short readings from the book.

World-renowned as a most vigilant, vocal observer of Chinese-Tibetan relations and ethnic minorities issues within China, Wang Lixiongwas recognized with the Freedom of Expression Award from the Independent Chinese PEN Association. Wang’s works are widely considered some of the most authoritative and balanced on Tibetan issues by a native Chinese writer.

Having discovered her Tibetan heritage as a young adult, journalist-poet Woeser now occupies a unique position as chronicler of modern Tibetan memory. Her writings are regarded as the voice of Tibet. Woeser was bestowed with the Prince Claus Prize by the Dutch in 2011 for her compelling blend of literary quality and political reportage.

Violet S. Law is an American translator of Chinese non-fiction. She graduated from the University of Chicago and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.