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Irrawaddy Literary Festival

Burma has just held its first ever literary festival, which for a country not known for welcoming either outsiders or debate proved an exciting event.

Burma has just held its first ever literary festival, which for a country not known for welcoming either outsiders or debate proved an exciting event. Among the guest writers at the Irrawaddy Literary Festival were Indian Vikram Seth, Burmese surgeon-cum-author Ma Thida and Burmese-American Thant Myint-U.

Eve Stewart, the production designer hotly tipped to pick up an Oscar for recreating 18th-century Paris for Les Miserables shares her behind-the-scenes secrets.

Garth Cartwright was recently in New Orleans to experience the annual Mardi Gras celebrations. He tells us why they are so famous and how Native and African American cultures have mixed.

Image: Aung San Suu Kyi (2nd L) speaks during the media launch of the Irrawaddy Literary Festival. Soe Than WIN/AFP/Getty Images.

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Tue 5 Feb 2013 12:32GMT

Chapters

  • Irrawaddy Literary Festival

    Burma鈥檚 first-ever literary festival.

    Duration: 05:33

  • Eve Stewart

    The Production Designer of Les Miserables lets us in to the secrets of her craft.

    Duration: 06:06

  • New Orleans Mardi Gras

    A look at the annual celebrations and why they are so famous.

    Duration: 05:49

Irrawaddy Literary Festival

Irrawaddy Literary Festival

Visitors buy books displayed during the Festival in Yangon, Burma. Image: AP Photo/Khin Maung Win.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 4 Feb 2013 20:32GMT
  • Tue 5 Feb 2013 03:32GMT
  • Tue 5 Feb 2013 09:32GMT
  • Tue 5 Feb 2013 12:32GMT