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)

## 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