Tsering Woeser

Tsering Woeser (also written Öser; Han name Chéng Wénsà 程文萨; born 1966) is a Tibetan activist, blogger, poet and essayist.  She lives in China.

Life 

Woeser is a quarter Han and three quarters Tibetan.  She was born in Lhasa. Her grandfather as a Han ethnic.  He was an officer in the Nationalist Army of the Kuomintang.  Her father was a high ranking Army officer in the People's Liberation Army.

When Woeser was a small child, her family moved to the Kham area of western Sichuan province. In 1988, she graduated from Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu with a degree in Chinese literature. She worked as a reporter in Kardzé and later worked in Lhasa.  In 2003, she moved to Beijing because of political problems. Woeser is married to Wang Lixiong, a famous author.   Lixiong often writes about Tibet.  According to Reporters sans frontières, "Woeser is one of the few Tibetan authors and poets to write in Chinese."  Because the government refused to give Woeser a passport, Woeser sued the government.

Work 

Woeser wrote a book, Notes on Tibet (西藏笔记; Xīzàng Bǐjì). According to the Tibet Information Network, unnamed sources say that the government banned the book about September 2003. According to UNPO, Woeser lost her job shortly after the ban.  Radio Free Asia said that she continued to write poems and articles on her two blogs: Maroon Map (绛红色的地图, oser.tibetcul.net), which, according to the author, was visited mostly by Tibetans, and the Woeser blog (blog.daqi.com/weise), which was visited mostly by those of Han ethnicity.  According to RFA, on July 28, 2006, both blogs were closed by the government.  The blogs were probably closed because she wrote birthday greetings to the Dalai Lama and wrote about other sensitive topics. Woeser said that she would continue to write and to speak.

During the Tibetan unrest of 2008, Woeser and her husband were put under house arrest after they spoke to reporters. In December 2008, Woeser and her husband were among the first of the original 303 people to sign Charter 08, Now, thousands more have signed it. Liu Xiaobo, the author of Charter 08, went to prison for 11 years.  He received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. In July 2009, Woeser and her husband, along with more than 100 other people, signed a petition for the Chinese govenrmnent to free ethnic-Uyghur professor of economics Ilham Tohti. When Woeser won the Prince Claus Awards in 2011, the government did not permit her to receive the prize in the Dutch embassy.

Awards
In 2007, Tsering Woeser received the Norwegian Authors Union awards Freedom of Expression Prize.
In 2007, Woeser received the freedom of speech medal from the Association of Tibetan Journalists.
In 2010, International Women's Media Foundation gave Woeser the Courage in Journalism Award.
In 2011, she received the Prince Claus Award, with the theme Breaking taboos
In 2013, Tsering Woeser received the International Women of Courage Award

Writing 
Xīzàng zài shàng 《西藏在上》(Live Tibet) (Xining, Qīnghǎi rénmín chūbǎnshè 青海人民出版社 1999), Woeser's first poetry edition
 Xīzàng Bǐjì 《西藏笔记》(Notes on Tibet) (Guangzhou, Huāchéng chūbǎnshè 花城出版社 2003), . Also published in Taiwan as Míng wéi Xīzàng de shī 《名为西藏的诗》 (Taiwan, Dàkuài wénhuà 大块文化 2006), .
 Jiànghóngsè de Nímǎ Cìrén 绛红色的尼玛次仁, in: Mǎ Míngbó 马明博, Xiāo Yáo 肖瑶 (eds.): Wénhuà míngjiā huà fóyuán 文化名家话佛缘 (Beijing, Zhōngguó dàng'àn chūbǎnshè 中国档案出版社 2004), .* Jiànghóngsè de dìtú 《绛红色的地图》 (Taiwan, Shíyīng chūbǎnshè 时英出版社 2003), ; (Beijing, Zhōngguó lǚyóu chūbǎnshè 中国旅游出版社 2004), .
 Bākuò Jiē de cāngsāng 八廓街的沧桑, in: Jīn Zhìguó 金志国 (ed.): Xīzàng dāngdài lǚxíngjì 西藏当代旅行记 (Lhasa, Xīzàng rénmín chūbǎnshè 西藏人民出版社 2004), .
 Shājié. Sishi nian de jiyi jinqu《杀劫》(Forbidden memory. Tibet during the Cultural Revolution) (Taiwan, Dàkuài wénhuà 大块文化 2006), .
 Tibet’s True Heart. Selected Poems. Dobbs Ferry, NY, 2008 (Ragged Banner Press Exzerpts), . Poems by Woeser (Weise), translated by A. E. Clark, Review 10−10−2008  (highpeakspureearth.com) Review 10−10−2008  (savetibet.org)
 Tibet on Fire: Self-Immolations Against Chinese Rule Verso, London (2016)

References

Other websites

 2013 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr 
Secretary's International Women of Courage Award (U.S. Department of State)
“They Have Guns, and I, a Pen”: Highly Valuable New Source on the Tibetan Rebellion
Woeser's blog
High Peaks Pure Earth, English translations of writings by Woeser
Introduction to Woeser, See "Secret Tibet" on this web page, from the website Tibet Writes
An Eye from History and Reality — Woeser and the Story of Tibet
An Analysis of the Woeser Incident  by Wang Lixiong
Article from Woeser  about the film Dreaming Lhasa
 Lone Tibetan Voice, Intent on Speaking Out 

1966 births
Living people
Activists
Bloggers
Essayists
Poets
Tibetan people
Women who received the International Women of Courage Award