Ei Pencilo, 31, is a Burmese author who escaped Yangon during the February 2021 military coup. Her memoir “Burma Spring Revolution: 100 Days of Darkness” documents how she evaded arrest in Burma, and ended up in the U.S. It was published in South Korea.

“My name is Pencilo. 

I adopted this as my pen name in 2012. 

Before that, I wrote under my given name. 

Since 2015, I have published four books as Pencilo. 

I wrote a book about my own experiences and what happened during the first 100 days of the coup.

I call it “Burma Spring Revolution: 100 days of Darkness.”

A South Korean book publisher contacted me and asked to publish it in the Korean language. 

This is my first time being published in Korean. 

I also want to raise awareness about Burma in South Korea. 

Burma’s struggle for democracy is similar to South Korea’s 

It would be impossible to publish a book like this in Burma now. 

In the book I have documented what the Burma Army did to the people. 

I wrote it as a record of the coup. 

So, I’d prefer to publish it in other languages. 

I am thinking of publishing an ebook and a physical copy. 

The e-book is for readers in Burma who won’t be able to purchase the physical book. 

I plan to translate my book into English so international readers can learn what happened in Burma. 

The Spring revolution is more important than my book. 

I will try to publish in Burmese and English. 

All proceeds will go to the Spring Revolution. 

I began writing on February 4th as I escaped from Yangon to the border. 

The book shares how I evaded arrest and made it out of Burma. 

I also wrote about the protests, and the atrocities committed against peaceful protesters. 

Once I reached the U.S., I couldn’t finish writing it.

But after three months, I could finally finish it. 

My book marks two important days imprinted in my mind. 

Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing was the first anti-coup protester killed by the military. 

Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing was shot at the Hledan protest. 

I heard the news about their deaths the day I arrived at the border. 

I had never heard of anything as cruel as killing these peaceful protesters. 

At my age all I knew about Burma’s brutal crackdowns and killing its own people have been from history books. 

I never thought it could really happen in 2021. 

I was really shocked.”

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