Penguin reprints Aung San Suu Kyi

The Bookseller - 17.11.10 - Benedicte Page

Two books by Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi are being rush-reprinted by Penguin following her release from house arrest last week.

Freedom from Fear, a compilation of her political writings, with prefaces by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Vaclav Havel, was first published by Viking in 1991. Meanwhile Letters from Burma, a collection of short pieces on daily life, with a preface by journalist Fergal Keane, was a new Penguin title in 1997. The Keane preface has now been updated.

Viking publishing director Tony Lacey said he had "never been allowed to have direct contact" with Aung San Suu Kyi throughout the years of her confinement, working instead via her husband Michael Aris until his death in 1999, and thereafter via her sister-in-law. He added he hoped it was "not a
pipedream to imagine an ordinary writer/publisher relationship from now on".