MCLC: RFA unveils e-book of Yasin's writings

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: RFA unveils e-book of Yasin's writings
***********************************************************

Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors (11/12/13):
http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2013/11/12/rfa-unveils-e-book-of-jailed-uyghur-writ
er-yasins-writings/

RFA Unveils e-Book of Jailed Uyghur Writer Yasin’s Writings

 
WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) today launched an e-book
<http://www.rfa.org/english/bookshelf> collecting the writings of
Nurmuhemmet Yasin, an award-winning Uyghur writer whom Chinese authorities
sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2004. The collection,Caged, has been
made available for the first time in digital format in the English and
Uyghur languages for iPad and Kindle. It includes Yasin’s allegorical
essay “Wild Pigeon,” the original publication of which led to his arrest
and jailing, in addition to other writings and audio content.

 
“For the first time, Nurmuhemmet Yasin’s writings – which have been banned
in China – can now be downloaded on mobile devices to be read and shared
widely,” said Libby Liu, President of RFA. “Through this e-book, Radio
Free Asia is bringing Yasin’s works to devoted fans in a new format while
allowing those less familiar with his writing an opportunity to experience
its power.”

 
RFA originally translated “Wild Pigeon” into English in 2005, a year after
Yasin’s arrest, in addition to producing an audio dramatization of the
work for its Uyghur listeners. The essay, an allegory about the life and
fate of a pigeon yearning for freedom, was first published in the Kashgar
Literary Journal. RFA’s dramatization is also included in this e-book. In
addition to “Wild Pigeon,” the English version of the e-book contains the
essay, “What Is Love?” The Uyghur version includes those works in addition
to others. The digital publication also contains rich illustrations,
created by the Broadcasting Board of Governor’s Office of Digital & Design
Innovation <http://www.innovation-series.com/tag/oddi/> (ODDI), to
accompany the writings.

 
A prolific author and poet, Yasin is an honorary member of the English,
American, and Independent Chinese branches of PEN, an international
writers group. He published three volumes of poetry: First Love, Crying
from the Heart, andCome On, Children, and his writings were included in
Uyghur-language school textbooks. Yasin is scheduled to be released in
November 2014, and while rumors have circulated that he may have died in
prison, none have been confirmed and his family continues to deny them.
Yasin was one of the few prisoners in China visited by the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Torture in 2005.

 
# # #
 
Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and
publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian
languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.
 RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and
expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA
is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.