AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint Dennis Shyu
Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint was born in Yangon, Myanmar, and grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, and San José, California. Her stories have been published in numerous journals, and she is the author of a novel, The End of Peril, the End of Enmity, the End of Strife, a Haven. Her nonfiction debut, Names for Light: A Family History (Graywolf, Aug. 17), is, according to our reviews, an “imaginative and compelling memoir about what we inherit and what we pass on.” Myint answered our questions by email. What prompted you to write Names for Light? Was this a book you felt called to write? Ever since my family relocated to the United States when I was 7 years old, I’ve had to act as a cultural interpreter of “my country and my people.” By the 58
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15 november 2021
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nonfiction
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time I was in college, my life was consumed with this duty: I was president of the Brown Campaign for Burma, which aimed to spread awareness of the human rights abuses in the country; I tutored families of recently resettled Burmese refugees; I helped a former Burmese political prisoner organize a literary festival at my college. Creative writing was my one relief from this activism—the one place where I allowed myself a break from “raising awareness” about Burma. But as my political activism ran dry over the years due to emotional burnout, I found that a creative space opened up for me. I had always thought that if I wrote about Burma, it would have to be an educational book for a “western audience”—I had not considered the possibility of writing a book that would be for myself and people like me. Names for Light emerged from this question—what would I write if I could write about my sense of identity and belonging on my own terms? What was it like having a book come out in 2021? How did you connect with readers in this socially distanced year? I had a baby a few months before my book release, so the sleep deprivation combined with the virtual nature of my book tour has made everything feel somewhat unreal! Still, it has been amazing to “see” my friends, family, and writing community attend my virtual events and to connect with students through virtual class visits. While I do miss getting the chance to talk with readers oneon-one at in-person events, I also appreciate the accessibility afforded by virtual programming— without the option of online events, I don’t think I would have been able to travel around the country with a newborn to promote my book. Who is the ideal reader for Names for Light, and what do you hope they take away from it? Any reader who is willing to put aside—or at least,
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