{"id":913,"date":"2017-05-28T03:44:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T21:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eng.moemaka.net\/?p=913"},"modified":"2017-05-27T03:47:50","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T21:17:50","slug":"maung-aung-pwint-peoples-poet-khet-mar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2017\/05\/maung-aung-pwint-peoples-poet-khet-mar\/","title":{"rendered":"Maung Aung Pwint: People\u2019s Poet (Khet Mar)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll works of a poet are the meaning and the desires of the era he is living in.\u201d<\/h4>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Maung Aung Pwint. Photo: Khet Mar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I once had an unsuccessful dream to publish a magazine in Burma. When I applied to the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) to publish the magazine in 2006, they told me that I couldn\u2019t receive permission because all of the people in the editorial staff were former political prisoners, and no government organization had recommended me.<\/p>\n

One of the members of the unsuccessful magazine\u2019s editorial staff was Maung Aung Pwint. He was always smiling, and through this smile you could see he had a kind heart. He has been writing poetry since 1968 but has lived with poetry his whole life. I asked him about his life as a poet and he said, \u201cAll works of a poet are the meaning and the desires of the era he is living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Maung Aung Pwint did not write only his desires. He also shared people\u2019s feelings to try and make the authorities aware of them. Because of this, he was imprisoned many times.<\/p>\n

During the 1988 uprising in Burma, Maung Aung Pwint acted as the joint secretary for the People\u2019s Peaceful Demonstration Committee of the Delta region. After the government cracked down on the protests, he joined a media group and documented the lives of Burma\u2019s people through videos and photographs. The authorities banned his work in 1996. On November 4, 1999, Maung Aung Pwint was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison<\/a> on the charges of \u201cillegal possession of a fax machine\u201d and \u201csending news\u201d to foreign media organizations.<\/p>\n

Later, he received several awards for his work, including the 2001 Hellman\/Hammett Grant for writers<\/a>, sponsored by Human Rights Watch, and the 2004 International Press Freedom Award<\/a> from the US- based Committee to Protect Journalists.<\/p>\n

In 2011, when I tried to publish a magazine again, this time online in America, I called him. He said, \u201cAlthough we didn\u2019t have a chance to work together, I am always ready to help your work for literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though we are personally close and feel the same way about literature and about our people, we haven\u2019t had the chance to work together because the online magazine in America could not be published. Still Maung Aung Pwint encouraged me, despite my lack of success. \u201cA poet writing poetry is doing his duty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As a dutiful citizen who has been writing poetry for over forty years, he deeply believes that writing about peoples\u2019 feelings is doing something for truth and justice. I would like to honor him by sharing a paragraph from a statement that he released in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cModern poetry believes, respects, and admires the fact that history doesn\u2019t excuse people who are late. But doing something for truth and justice is never too late. A person who has integrity, who is patient, and who loves peace will not face an ocean with no shore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maung Aung Pwint has also said that a poet who empathizes and feels, shares the people\u2019s perspective. His life has been frequently spent in jail because he shares the feelings of the Burmese people. If I call him the people\u2019s poet, is there anyone who will disagree with me?<\/p>\n

Translator: Courtney Wittekind<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source – http:\/\/www.sampsoniaway.org\/fearless-ink\/khet-mar\/2012\/05\/30\/maung-aung-pwint-peoples-poet\/<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll works of a poet are the meaning and the desires of the era he is living in.\u201d Maung Aung Pwint. Photo: Khet Mar I once had an unsuccessful dream to publish a magazine in Burma. When I applied to…<\/p>\n

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