Myanmar Opens Up with International Literary Festival

Will feature authors once imprisoned for their writings

Authors once imprisoned for their writings will be among those featured in Myanmar's first international literary festival, which runs from Friday through Sunday.

The Irrawaddy Literary Festival comes as Myanmar is relaxing its censorship rules. After the country, formerly known as Burma, was controlled by a military junta for half a century, recent political reform has opened it to the outside world and allowed more freedom of expression. While writers must still submit their books to the government, it can no longer block their distribution.