13 Facts About Tin Moe

Tin Moe was born in the village of Kanmye in Taungtha Township, Myingyan, Mandalay Division.

Tin Moe received his early education at a Buddhist monastery, and attended school at the town of Yezagyo.

Tin Moe's reputation preceded him when he went on to study at the University of Mandalay at the request of faculty members who had been impressed by an essay he wrote for the matriculation exam.

Tin Moe was already a published poet under the pen name Kan Mye Nan Myint Nwe in the Ludu Journal of Mandalay.

In 1956 Tin Moe collected his poems into a book titled Hpan Mee Ain.

Tin Moe continued to write poems and essays, and became editor of poetry at the Ludu Daily in Mandalay.

Tin Moe worked for a time as the editor of Pei Hpu Hlwar magazine.

Tin Moe responded to the criticism of the political content of his later poems such as Sobs and New Pages by referring to Thakin Kodaw Hmaing whose patriotic and satirical poetry spawned a powerful anti-colonial literary movement while Burma was under British rule.

Tin Moe had dedicated one of his earliest poems to his great hero, titled To Grandpa Thakin Kodaw Hmaing.

An active supporter of the pro-democracy movement, Tin Moe was imprisoned in 1991 for four years by Burma's military government for his activities.

Tin Moe's work was banned, and after his release he left for the West and moved to the United States as an exile.

Tin Moe traveled through the US, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia attending literary events.

Tin Moe died on January 22,2007, in his home away from home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 73.