Pride and Pain in Difficult Times

This extraordinary collection of poems by global human rights activist, author and jurist, Basil Fernando bears witness to one of the most harrowing clashes in South Asian history. Bringing an utterly human voice to Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war, Fernando evokes the imagery and testimony of a people and a land brutalized by a corrupt regime. Part reportage, part literary reflection, Pride and Pain in Difficult Times is a timely collection about Fernando's homeland and exile, and a stark reminder that the dismantling of an authoritarian power is possible only though the heroic resistance of individuals who refuse to accept a death sentence. In 2014 Basil Fernando was awarded the 'alternative Nobel Prize, Right Livelihood Award for, "his tireless and outstanding work to support and document the implementation of human rights in Asia."

Basil Fernando is a leading global human rights activist, jurist, author and poet. He is the recipient of the 2014 Right Livelihood Award, Kwangju Prize for Human Rights, is the author of Article 2 Magazine and has been a Senior Ashoka Fellow. Following a career as human rights, labour and criminal lawyer with the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, Fernando was inspired by the life and work of Indian statesman Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Danish philosopher N.F.S. Grundtvig to embark upon a lifelong crusade to defend human rights. With the outbreak of the Sri Lankan civil war, Fernando was further thrust into a pivotal role in addressing judicial breakdown across Asia.