From the Empty Chair to Defending Others

At the 91st PEN International Congress in Kraków, Ma Thida, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, spoke with journalist and activist Samira Mohyeddin about imprisonment, solidarity, and the meaning of PEN’s Empty Chair.

Having once been represented by an Empty Chair herself during her imprisonment in Myanmar, Ma Thida reflected on what it means today to support other writers at risk through PEN’s work. “I usually say that after I was released from prison, I was demoted from the position of the Empty Chair,” she said — a remark that reflects both humour and the enduring responsibility she feels toward those still imprisoned.

Now as Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, Ma Thida helps lead PEN International’s global work to defend writers who are imprisoned, persecuted, or threatened for their work, and to ensure they are not forgotten.