Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books.
Today is the story of March 23rd
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It is the 82nd day of the year, leaving 283 days remaining in 2022.
He was also considered an artistic virtuoso with his pen, creating a style that Burmese writers have troubles emulating to the day.
He was a poet, playwright, and journalist who later became a peace activist. He wrote his plays and poems in a verse that included complex rhyme schemes and metaphorical language. He was known to use satire and parody to question political or religious institutions, such as his best known work that caused a national sensation when it was published.
It was his first novel, Missata Maung Hmaing hmadawbon wutte (the Epistles of Mr. Maung Hmaing in the English translation). It used the name of the main character in another popular work, who was an adulterous scoundrel. And by using the title Mister, he was spoofing the use of the title by young men trying to exude an image similar to the British overlords who then ruled Burma. The name stuck with him, but the Mister usage by Anglophiles ended.
He soon joined a nationalist Burmese association, and used his poetry and other verse to inspire pride in the Burmese language, culture, and history. His distinctive, if sometimes suggestive, style helped him avoid the censors from the colonial government.
After Burma gained independence in 1948, a civil war began, and Kodaw Hmaing used his words to become a peace activist in his country. He also went to Russia and China to argue for peace, and attended the 1957 World Peace Conference in India.
He died in 1964 in Yangon.
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