2 Karen Connelly
Karen Connelly, at 24, was the youngest recipient ever of the Governor
General’s Award for Non-Fiction. She won it in 1993 for her bestseller, Touch
the Dragon: A Thai Journal. Her writing is inspired by her extensive
travels and time spent living in such countries as Thailand, Burma,
France, Spain and Greece where she still maintains a small house. She is a
writer of novels, poetry, memoir and non-fiction with nine books in print.
Her books about Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) are politically charged. The
Border Surrounds Us, The Lizard Cage, and her latest travel memoir, Burmese
Lessons: A Love Story (Random House), are very much about politics and
human rights in those countries. Burmese Lessons, in particular, is
about the spirit and resilience of the artists and intellectuals who
continue to exist and resist under a brutal, totalitarian regime. It is
also a frank recounting of her time spent in Burma in 1996, and her
relationship with the leader of one of Burma’s many resistance groups.
Photo: Joy Von Tiedemann
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