Tsering Woeser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tsering Woeser
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Tsering Woeser on Voice of America's Chinese service
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| Born | July 21, 1966 Lhasa |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Chinese, Tibetan |
| Nationality | Chinese
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| Alma mater | Southwest University for Nationalities |
| Genre | Short story, poetry, essays |
| Notable works | Notes on Tibet (Chinese: 西藏笔记) |
| Notable awards | Prince Claus Awards; International Women of Courage Award |
| Spouse | Wang Lixiong |
Tsering Woeser (Tibetan: ཚེ་རིང་འོད་ཟེར་, Wylie: tshe-ring 'od-zer, Lhasa dialect: [t͡sʰérìŋ wǿsèː]; Chinese: 唯色; pinyin: Wéisè, Han name Chéng Wénsà 程文萨; born July 21, 1966) is a brave Tibetan writer, activist, blogger, poet, and essayist. She is known for sharing stories and poems about Tibet. Woeser often writes about important issues facing her people.
Contents
About Tsering Woeser
Woeser was born in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. She is three-quarters Tibetan and one-quarter Han Chinese. Her family moved to the Kham area in western Sichuan province when she was very young.
In 1988, she finished her studies at Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu. She earned a degree in Chinese literature. After college, she worked as a reporter in different places, including Garzê and Lhasa.
Since 2003, Woeser has lived in Beijing. She moved there because of difficulties she faced due to her writings. She is married to Wang Lixiong, who is also a well-known author. He often writes about Tibet too.
Reporters Without Borders, a group that helps journalists, says that Woeser is one of the few Tibetan writers who writes in Chinese. She once sued the government because they would not give her a passport.
Her Writing Career
Woeser wrote a book called Notes on Tibet (Chinese: 西藏笔记; pinyin: Xīzàng Bǐjì). This book was reportedly banned by the government around September 2003.
After the book was banned, Woeser also lost her job. She continued to share her poems and articles online. She had two blogs: Maroon Map and the Woeser blog. Maroon Map was mostly read by Tibetans, and the Woeser blog was mainly read by Han Chinese people.
On July 28, 2006, the government closed both of her blogs. This happened after she posted birthday greetings to the 14th Dalai Lama and wrote about other sensitive topics. Even after this, Woeser said she would keep writing and speaking out.
During the 2008 Tibetan unrest, Woeser and her husband were not allowed to leave their home after talking to reporters. In December 2008, Woeser and her husband were among the first people to sign Charter 08. This was a paper asking for more freedom and rights in China. Thousands of people later signed it. Liu Xiaobo, who wrote Charter 08, was sent to prison and later won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
In July 2009, Woeser and her husband signed another request. They asked Chinese authorities to release Ilham Tohti, a professor who was detained. When Woeser won the Prince Claus Award in 2011, she was not allowed to go to the Dutch embassy to receive it.
Tsering Woeser has also spoken about the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion. She defended the actions of Tibetans during that time. She said that Zhao Erfeng invaded the region to "brutally stop Tibetan protests." She also listed bad things that Zhao did.
One of her works, "Garpon La's Offerings," was translated into English. It appeared in The Penguin Book of Modern Tibetan Essays.
Awards and Recognition
Woeser has received several important awards for her work and courage:
- In 2007, she won the Freedom of Expression Prize from the Norwegian Authors Union.
- Also in 2007, she received a freedom of speech medal from the Association of Tibetan Journalists.
- In 2010, the International Women's Media Foundation gave her the Courage in Journalism Awards.
- In 2011, she received the Prince Claus Awards for "Breaking taboos."
- In 2013, Tsering Woeser was given the International Women of Courage Award.
Her Published Works
- Tibet's True Heart. Selected Poems. Dobbs Ferry, NY, 2008 (Ragged Banner Press Excerpts), ISBN: 978-0-9816989-0-8.
- Forbidden Memory Tibet during the Cultural Revolution English edition, published 2020 by University of Nebraska Press. This book includes photographs by Tsering Dorje.
See also
In Spanish: Woeser para niños
