Tsering Woeser

Tsering Woeser (also written Oser; Han name Cheng Wensa Cheng Wen Sa ; 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 Kardze 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 frontieres, "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 (Xi Cang Bi Ji ; Xizang Biji). 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 (Jiang Hong Se De Di Tu , 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
Xizang zai shang <<Xi Cang Zai Shang >> (Live Tibet) (Xining, Qinghai renmin chubanshe Qing Hai Ren Min Chu Ban She 1999), Woeser's first poetry edition
Xizang Biji <<Xi Cang Bi Ji >> (Notes on Tibet) (Guangzhou, Huacheng chubanshe Hua Cheng Chu Ban She 2003), . Also published in Taiwan as Ming wei Xizang de shi <<Ming Wei Xi Cang De Shi >> (Taiwan, Dakuai wenhua Da Kuai Wen Hua 2006), .
Jianghongse de Nima Ciren Jiang Hong Se De Ni Ma Ci Ren , in: Ma Mingbo Ma Ming Bo , Xiao Yao Xiao Yao (eds.): Wenhua mingjia hua foyuan Wen Hua Ming Jia Hua Fo Yuan (Beijing, Zhongguo dang'an chubanshe Zhong Guo Dang An Chu Ban She 2004), .* Jianghongse de ditu <<Jiang Hong Se De Di Tu >> (Taiwan, Shiying chubanshe Shi Ying Chu Ban She 2003), ; (Beijing, Zhongguo luyou chubanshe Zhong Guo Lu You Chu Ban She 2004), .
Bakuo Jie de cangsang Ba Kuo Jie De Cang Sang , in: Jin Zhiguo Jin Zhi Guo (ed.): Xizang dangdai luxingji Xi Cang Dang Dai Lu Xing Ji (Lhasa, Xizang renmin chubanshe Xi Cang Ren Min Chu Ban She 2004), .
Shajie. Sishi nian de jiyi jinqu<<Sha Jie >> (Forbidden memory. Tibet during the Cultural Revolution) (Taiwan, Dakuai wenhua Da Kuai Wen Hua 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
Bloggers
Essayists
Chinese poets
Tibetan rights activists
Women who received the International Women of Courage Award
People from Lhasa