Writers from Burma

Nu Nu YEE (novelist, Burma; born 1957, Innwa) made her literary debut with the short story "A Little Sarong" in 1984, and has gone on to write over a dozen novels and four collections of short fiction and long short stories. Her first novel A Timid "What Can I Do for You" is a study of market vendors in Upper Burma, and her subsequent works have explored the lives of women, children, and urban and industrial workers in Myanmar. Her 1993 novel Emerald Green Blue Kamayut, depicting the urban poor, received Myanmar's National Literary Award. Her work has been put to the service of her country's most pressing societal needs; a play she wrote for the nongovernmental Population Service Centre in 1996 popularizes the use of iodine salt for goiter problems. Ms. Yee conducts lecture tours all over Myanmar. Her works have been translated into Japanese and English. She hold a BS from the University of Mandalay and a diploma in librarianship from the University of Yangon. She is taking part in the IWP through a grant from the Burma Project of the Open Society Institute. She writes under the name Nu Nu Yiy Inwa.

U Thu Maung, also known as U Bala (fiction writer, Burma; b. 1951, Yangon) has written 32 novels, and numerous short stories and articles. He received the Mandalay literary award for ìMy Fatherís Motherî in 1999. The son of Burmese film director U Tha Du, Thu Maung has starred in 43 films and won Burmaís Academy Award for best actor in 1990; he has also directed five films. He embarked on a career as classical singer in 1975, and added pop music to his repertoire, becoming well known. He earned a degree in Diesel Engineering. Since 1996 he has devoted all his time to writing.

MAUNG Swan Yi (b.1939, Kansint) (U Win Pe) won the National Literary Prize in 1964 for his collection of poetry, Poems of Red and Blue (1964). A well-known scholar and writer, his poems, short stories, book reviews, and articles on Mayanma (Burmese) literature and art have appeared in various journals, magazines, and newspapers since 1958, often under the pen name Maung Swan Yi. He has lectured on literature, at schools, town halls, churches, and monasteries, since 1962 and has also devoted himself to the preserving of Burmese culture, conducting extensive field research on Burmese folklore and folk music. He is participating through private sponsorship.

MA THIDA (fiction writer, physician, activist; b. 1966, Burma) was in medical school when Burma’s military junta shut down the universities. She then served as a health care provider as well as an editor for the non-violent National League for Democracy. Her many short stories containing disguised criticism of the Burmese government led to six years in solitary confinement, without access to reading or writing materials. In 1999 she was pardoned and released on humanitarian grounds. She is now the editor of a youth magazine as well as a surgeon at the Muslim Free Hospital, which treats poor patients at no cost.

Pandora (poet; Burma/Myanmar) is the editor of the forthcoming [Tuning: An Anthology of Myanmar Women Poets], due out this August. Her poems have been anthologized in Bones Will Crow: 15 Contemporary Burmese Poets (2012), and translations of her work have been published in international literary journals and magazines, including Asymptote, Poetry Review, and Sampsonia Way. She currently works for the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

MYAY HMONE LWIN (poet, fiction writer, translator; Burma/Myanmar) is the author of the poetry collection Se ma lar [Wanna Ride?] (2010), the short story collection Yangon tayeiksanyone mha pyan yaggaun lootnay [An Otter Sneaked Out From the Yangon Zoo] (2014), and the novels Nhit phie da pine [One By Two 1/2] (2011), Khu (2011), A yate ta kyi kyi [Watch Out Your Shadow] (2012) and Kyat sar ko khae pyat nhit pyat ywae ma ya [What Has Been Written on the Stone Can’t Be Erased by an Eraser] (2013). He owns a publishing house and printing press, and is on the Board of Directors of PEN Myanmar. His participation is privately funded.