There's still time to contribute to

[HMarciniec@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: There's still time to contribute to essay project

There's still time left to submit your essay!

We invite you to contribute to a volume of essays to be published by the Burma
Project next year.  The book, in English and Burmese, will consist of essays
written by members of the Burmese diaspora community.  

To be considered for the publication please send us an essay, written as candidly
as possible, that will give the readers a vivid glimpse of your life as someone
from Burma through a concrete anecdote or instance. (See below for essay
guidelines)  

This project is particularly exciting since it will be one of the few ways the
public can learn about the politics and culture of Burma through the eyes and
voices of the participants.  This is a unique chance to be published and to
represent the Burmese diaspora community to the world. The deadline for essays is
October, 1999.

We especially urge women and ethnic minority students to contribute.

Authors chosen for publication will receive five complimentary copies of the
publication.

Please share this letter widely with other Burmese students. 
We look forward to reading your responses!

Note: For those few who have submitted an essay to the Burma Project in the past,
you do not have to send us something new.  Your essay will be considered for this
publication as well.  (However, If you would prefer to do so, please feel free to
send us another essay).

Guidelines for the essay

1.	Roughly 2-4 pages double-spaced, typed, in English and/or Burmese
describing a specific aspect of your life as a Burmese national living abroad.  

2.	Written, as candidly as possible (with lots of details), that gives us a
glimpse of your life as someone from Burma through a concrete anecdote or instance.


3.	Clearly written, but do not feel you have to sacrifice your story for
grammatical accuracy or eloquence. 

If you have already written an essay (for school, another publication, scholarship
application, etc.) in English or Burmese, similar to what we have described, you
may send that to us as well.

Please mail your submissions to:
The Burma Project/ Open Society Institute
400 W. 59th St.  4th floor
New York, NY 
10019 USA

You may also fax essays to (212) 548-4655 (Attention: Essay Project) or email them
to burma@xxxxxxxxxxxx  Please indicate how you should be identified if your essay
is chosen for publication.  Don't forget to keep a copy for yourself for we cannot
return essays.


Possible essay topics/themes:
The following are suggestions only, you may write on whatever personal topic you
wish.  We strongly encourage you to write on a topic of your own design. 

*	How difficult has it been accommodating to a new culture considering your
Burmese background? (For example, a Burmese student once wrote how difficult it was
to treat her teachers in the same informal manner as did her American peers.  A
male Burmese student was still bothered, even after many years in America, that his
clothes were washed in the same machine as his sister's.) 
*	How has studying in a democratic country re-shaped your understanding of
education and/or politics? 
*	How have you come to deal with the trauma of leaving home and living in
exile?
*	How has living abroad changed your understanding of the Burmese sense of
community or nationhood? 
*	How has living away from Burma changed your relationship with the Burmese
community? 
*	What have been your greatest frustrations with living the life of an exile?
*	How have you been forced to reconsider what is important in your life?
*	What are your hopes or fears for the future?