12:10 AM
Royan Idris
Though the "Lady" was the main attraction,
the Irrawaddy Literary Festival managed to focus the spotlight on
Myanmar's changing book landscape
"If you have ever learned some poems, they will come in very handy if ever you are imprisoned," said Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, while speaking at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival.
The Irrawaddy Literary Festival was never going to be a regular book bash. Not with one of the world's great democracy icons as the star of the show.
And the thousands that turned up to hear Aung San Suu Kyi weren't what you'd call the usual literary festival crowd.
"It's the draw of this country and Aung San," said Jane Heyn, the festival's director and wife of the British ambassador to Myanmar, as the three-day festival came to a close on Sunday.
Three thousand made their way through the doors of Inya Lake Hotel in Yangon on Saturday and more than a thousand of those packed the hotel ballroom to hear Ms. Suu Kyi speak.
She spoke of how books helped her through the 15 years she spent under house arrest.
Outside
Yangon'a Inya Lake Hotel, site of Myanmar's first literary festival,
book stalls were set up under the shade of bright blue tents. "I read a lot about prisoners and prisoners of conscience," she said. "Through books you can learn how people cope intellectually and spiritually through the challenges of life."
Suu Kyi's favorite genre -- detective stories -- have proved more than a source of entertainment. She says they've helped her understand people.
"And now that I'm chair of the Law and Order Council, I know a lot more about the law and courts because of reading detective stories," she says. "The more detective stories you read, the better able you are to work out who the villain is."
For Suu Kyi, literature sustains the soul and gives strength: "If you have ever learned some poems, they will come in very handy if ever you are imprisoned."
