Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Here’s an account of my visit to Sittwe, home of many Rohingya, in August 2012. This is not a particularly hands-on story, nor did it involve any courage on my part. Better reportages on the same subject have surfaced in the media in recent days. But as Sittwe is now sealed off and as no […]
Continue ReadingThe country’s tourism sector is taking a hit following a high-profile murder case and a bungled police response. My report in last week’s The Diplomat.
Continue ReadingBurmese Light. my collaboration with photographer Hans Kemp, gets a great review in The Advisor. Thanks, Wayne McCallum. “Burmese Light is the best photo-travelogue that I have read or browsed through in 2013 or nearly any year for that matter. Yes! It is simply that good.”
Continue ReadingBurmese politician and global human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi with a copy of Burmese Light, flanked by the book’s two authors in Mandalay during the Irrawaddy Literary Festival. She kept flicking to the end papers and went, “Hm, nice….” That’s what I thought as well.
Continue ReadingPhotograph by Lah Worawan Simaroj.
Continue ReadingI am at the second Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay, organized by Jane Heyn, the wife of the former British ambassador to Myanmar. This second festival is held in Mandalay and has been in preparation for almost a year. Top writers appearing this time around include Jung Chang, Louis de Bernieres, and Thant Myint U. […]
Continue ReadingVery happy to travel to this year’s Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay, Burma from February 13th to 17th. Crime Wave Press will set off with a small delegation – author Jame DiBiasio, co-counder Hans Kemp and myself will be giving readings and participating in panel discussions. Looking forward to meeting lots of other authors, and […]
Continue ReadingBurmese Light, a new photo book by Hans Kemp to which I contributed the text, has recently been reviewed in Wildlife and Landscape Photography Magazine. Read another recent review of Burmese Light by Ron Gluckman for The Asia Wall Street Journal.
Continue Reading“For the armchair traveler, Mr. Kemp’s “Burmese Light” may be the most entertaining introduction to the country. Originally from the Netherlands, Mr. Kemp has lived in the region since the 1980s and is known for books from Vietnam and Cambodia. “‘Burmese Light’ is really about this moment in transition,” he explained before the book’s launch […]
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