• Burmese
Friday, July 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

‘Poetry is Me. It’s Inside Me. So, as Long as I exist, Poetry Will Exist.’

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
November 21, 2017
in Burma
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
Mae Yway. / Dana Lixenberg

Mae Yway. / Dana Lixenberg

5.6k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Mae Yway (b. 1991) grew up in Myeik, a coastal city on the Andaman Sea, in Myanmar’s far south.  Myeik is a sleepy fishing town, dominated by an enormous reclining Buddha in the bay that curves around the town. Mae Yway’s family migrated to Yangon when she was nine years old:

 I had culture shock when I moved to Yangon. We were laughed at for how we spoke and our Myeik accent.  I didn’t dare talk to people except for two or three friends.  I didn’t dare speak in public: a feeling I have to this day.  I’m afraid and shake all over when I recite my poetry in public.

Mae Yway started writing poetry as a teenager:

RelatedPosts

Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

July 10, 2025
495
37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

July 3, 2025
1.4k
The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
1.2k

When I read a poem in a magazine, I wanted to write one on my own. I didn’t know you needed to study how to write a poem. I just wrote down my emotions.

But you can’t just write something down. You need to create it. Poetry has to be composed, so it will be beautiful, artistic.

Not just poetry. You know, cooking is also an art. When cooking and combining ingredients, this is also creation. It’s also art. Creativity is essential. You should study every part of it.  How does an onion taste if you add it to another ingredient?  So, when you create a poem, you have to know other poems.  

Art, however, was not valued by the military dictatorship.

At school, we were taught art is something useless, what losers do: if you are inclined to art, you will starve. That was the message to young students. I wanted to write poetry, but none of my friends were interested in poetry. We studied poems at school, but no one respected poetry.

The military government also made young people indifferent to politics. Most of my friends, and most young people of our time, are still not interested in politics at all.

Now with the new democratic government, the word ‘politics’ has become popular, heard everywhere. Now some care about politics, some don’t. It’s a chaotic time.

Myanmar’s political landscape is changing, but the country remains a deeply conservative society. Mae Yway wears her resistance to it on her skin – covered in tattoos, which are highly unusual for a woman in Myanmar.

 It’s what I wanted to do very much since childhood – I liked tattoos since I was four or five years old. But I only had the courage to start tattooing in my twenties.  Most people look badly on those who have tattoos.  They look at me and think: what kind of girl am I? But I don’t care about those who stare.

Some people think I got my tattoos – and do other things – like drinking and smoking – to show I can do whatever men are allowed to do. But I don’t have gender differentiation in mind. I do it because I want to and like it. I will tattoo my entire body.

She seeks a similar freedom from gender roles in her relationships:  

I’m neither lesbian nor straight:  I‘m human. I will have a relationship with whoever is okay with me, whether man or woman.  Right now, I prefer girls. They are better at relationships.

People around me say it’s disgusting that I hang out with girls, telling me not to reverse nature. I ask them: what is nature? There is no nature.  It is nonsense that men must like women because they are men; and women must like men because they are women. These are only man-made issues. You have the right to choose. If you are just following what others do, your life has no meaning. You have your own life, your own existence. You have to go with your own thinking. If not, go back to the military government.

Myanmar’s democratic transition has also been accompanied by an opening to the global market: it now has the fastest growing economy in the world.  Mae Yway joined this economic wave, working as an airline customer service agent for the last two years.

I had a lot of responsibility, work pressure, taking care of passengers.  When I came home, work was still in my head, dissatisfaction and anger too. During those two years, I couldn’t read and write. I became depressed.  The only thing I could save during those two years was money. And blank paper. No poems. No thinking.

I can’t make a living from writing poetry.  But I want to live with poetry, and improve my skills in writing.  With no time and energy for poetry, it was worth it to give up my job. So I quit.  I will find something else.

When I ask her about the place of poetry in her life, she replies:

Poetry is not the most important thing. But it’s congruent with me. If I can’t write poetry I will be depressed and lose hope to live.

Poetry is me. It’s inside me. So, as long as I exist, poetry will exist. If there is no me, there is no poetry.

Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel.

 A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

There will be a Free Open Air Screening of the Burma Storybook documentary film (82 min.) in Mahabandoola Park in Yangon on November 25 at 6 p.m. From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the interactive Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

Your Thoughts …
Tags: ArtsCultureHistory
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime
Burma

Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime

by The Irrawaddy
May 13, 2024
13.3k

The old Kengtung Haw was a symbol of Shan identity until it was razed by the previous junta in 1991—a...

Read moreDetails
Six Key Points About Myanmar’s Newly Enforced Conscription Law
Analysis

Six Key Points About Myanmar’s Newly Enforced Conscription Law

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
11.9k

What does the legislation entail, and why is the junta implementing it for the first time since its promulgation 65...

Read moreDetails
Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     
Guest Column

Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     

by Bertil Lintner
March 14, 2024
11.6k

After six decades of political wrangling, assassinations and opium trading, Shan forces remain bitterly divided, lacking a common vision for...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Civil Society, Burmanization, and the Bars and Coffee Shops of Thailand
Guest Column

Myanmar Civil Society, Burmanization, and the Bars and Coffee Shops of Thailand

by R. J. Aung and Tony Waters
November 18, 2023
10.9k

After the 2021 coup the donors, NGOs and CSOs of ‘Peaceland’ decamped from Yangon to Thailand, but their Western, ‘we-know-best’...

Read moreDetails
Once Upon a Time in… Myanmar
Books

Once Upon a Time in… Myanmar

by David Scott Mathieson
October 14, 2024
10.1k

American photojournalist Greg Constantine’s ‘Ek Khaale’ project assembles old photos and documents to reclaim the Rohingya community’s identity.

Read moreDetails
Charting Myanmar Strongman Ne Win’s Tragic Legacy
Books

Charting Myanmar Strongman Ne Win’s Tragic Legacy

by Mon Mon Myat
July 18, 2024
9.8k

In a new book, Saw Eh Htoo and Tony Waters examine the late dictator’s policy of Burmanization and how it...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
/ The Irrawaddy

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Maung Pyiyt Minn. / Dana Lixenberg

‘Profound Sympathy with the Oppressed Urges Me to Write’

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

2 days ago
954
‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

2 days ago
949

Most Read

  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Bombing of Resistance-Held Areas in Mandalay, Karenni Kills Seven Civilians

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.