Burmese poet U Win Tin, a frail 76-year-old man jailed by his own government for nearly 20 years for the criminal act of writing, was released from prison yesterday.

An international cast of writers celebrated his release at the PEN American Center's Reading Burma benefit last night. The event raised $13,500 in donations, all of which will be donated to cyclone relief and freedom of expression advocates in Burma/Myanmar. (Photos to follow later today)

A former United Nations envoy to Myanmar read one of Tin's poems out-loud, words that the poet had scratched into the dust in his 6-foot by 3-foot cell--the UN official read the words that Tin was forbidden to write:

"As long as democracy and human rights are not written, read / I decline my release."