Burma – A Work In Progress

After recent visits to Burma, Peter Popham takes a look at what has happened politically, socially and economically since the election two years ago and analyses the contribution of Aung San Suu Kyi since she has been part of the new government.

Peter Popham has lived for extended periods in Japan, India and Italy during his career as author, foreign correspondent and feature writer. For more than 20 years, he reported for the Independent from four continents and in 1991 paid his first visit to Burma as an undercover reporter. Later, as the paper’s South Asia correspondent, he was one of the first journalists to interview Aung San Suu Kyi after her release from detention in 2002. His biography of her, The Lady and the Peacock was published in 2010.

Extra Words: Thai author, Tew Bunnag, makes his UK debut with Curtain of Rain, a novel of politics, power and greed – and the clash between traditional values and consumerism in modern Thailand.