Belle Marquise Books

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 and immoral 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."