I’m excited and grateful to be the recipient of the 2021 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship! “The winning entry, Michelle Aung Thin’s The Japanese Photographer, crackles with energy and promise. The author’s long-term fascination and in-depth engagement with her subject matter – the historical and ongoing complexity of Yangon/Rangoon – is evident, and the writing is highly accessible, clear and […]

Joint Winner – South Asia Book Award 2021 Past Awards, 2021 Joint Winner – Freeman Award – Young Adult / High School Literature 2020 The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) Joint Winner – USSBY Outstanding International Books List 2021, Best International Books Award 2021 The United States Board on Books for Young People […]

It’s a bit tricky getting to classrooms at the moment, given the Covid-19 restrictions. So, instead, I thought I could come to you virtually with this video. How to use the Through my Eyes: Hasina story prompt video The video is for use in the classroom as a replacement for face-to-face visits. It is around […]

Earlier this month, I was delighted to find out that Crossing the Farak River was nominated for the Canada Writers’ Trust, #drawtheword challenge. Drawings need to be posted by the end of the month – so there is still time! To enter, all you have to do is: Buy and read a new Canadian book […]

Originally, this post was going to be about how a novel can move the reader from pity to compassion and how the lessons I learned during the writing process might be applied in a classroom. But the Covid-19 pandemic stopped me in my tracks.

Join Michelle Aung Thin in a live author chat and Q&A about her novel, Crossing the Farak River. She’ll be discussing the challenges of writing about the Rohingya crisis and building empathy through fiction.

My parents warned me that this book could mean I would never
set foot in Burma again. Their fears were grounded in our family history. I hadn’t returned to Burma until 2013 because I hadn’t been allowed to. Would it be worth writing this book if it meant never being allowed back in? Was I okay with saying goodbye to Burma, that maddening, beautiful,
heartbreaking country — in emotional ways, still my country — all over again?

We gathered to send Hasina out into the literary world.

Interview with Historical Novel Society Australasia, who’s conference I am presenting at on 26 October.

Interview with Myanmar poet Nyein Way, visiting Australia for the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Brisbane Poetry Festival.