An Unlikely Prisoner: How an eternal optimist found hope in Myanmar's most notorious jail
By (Author) Sean Turnell
By (author) Ha Vu
Penguin Random House Australia
Viking Australia
14th November 2023
Australia
Paperback
304
Width 154mm, Height 234mm
1g
How hope became one man's closest companion in his darkest hour. 'Australia's most unlikely political prisoner . . . is known as a person of deep optimism, bubbling enthusiasm and infectious warmth.' Melissa Crouch, Sydney Morning Herald For 650 days Sean Turnell was held in Myanmar's terrifying Insein Prison on the trumped-up charge of being a spy. In An Unlikely Prisoner he recounts how an impossibly cheerful professor of economics, whose idea of an uncomfortable confrontation was having to tell a student that their essay was 'not really that good', ended up in one of the most notorious prisons in South-East Asia. And how he not only survived his lengthy incarceration, but left with his sense of humour intact, his spirit unbroken and love in his heart.
Sean Turnell is Honorary Professor of Economics at Macquarie University. In 2009 he published an influential book on Myanmar's financial system, Fiery Dragons, which made him an internationally recognised expert on the subject and one of Aung San Suu Kyi's most trusted advisers. He was arrested in Myanmar in 2021 following a military coup and imprisoned for 650 days. Sean lives in Sydney with his wife, Ha Vu, who campaigned tirelessly for his release.