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HARDtalk: Liao Yiwu

27/03/2008

Liao Yiwu

BBC News Channel - HARDtalk, Liao Yiwu

Liao Yiwu spent four years in jail for writing a poem about the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Dissident writer Liao Yiwu spent four years in jail after writing an epic poem about the Tiananmen Square massacre. In a rare interview, Liao talks to Stephen Sackur.

Stephen Sackur talks to writer and poet Liao Yiwu.

China is undergoing a period of rapid and profound change, but not everyone stands to gain. Dissident writer Liao Yiwu seeks to give a voice to the people he calls 'the lowest rungs of Chinese society'. He spent four years in jail after writing an epic poem about the Tiananmen Square massacre and his book 'The Corpse Walker' is a series of interviews with China's underclass: human traffickers, professional mourners, lepers, migrant labourers. Even this subject matter is controversial and Liao's every move is shadowed by the authorities. In a rare interview, Liao talks to Stephen Sackur about his extraordinary life and how he is recording the voices of the voiceless.

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