Career As A Writer and Journalist
Thein Pe Myint's literary career began in 1937 when he was already a politically active Rangoon University student. His inaugural work Tet Pongyi (The Modern Monk; တက်ဘုန်းကြီး) openly deals with scandalous sexual liaisons and corrupt affairs of some of Burmese Buddhist clergy. His fellow Dobama Asiayone member Thakin Nu wrote the introduction of the book. The provocative book shocked the highly devout Burma, and came to symbolize the open challenge by the left-leaning college-educated student activists to the old unspoken norms of Burmese society. The book was vigorously denounced by Young Monks Association. Both the writer and the publishing company received many threats. However some leading writers including Zawgyi welcomed the book. He became known as Tet Pongyi Thein Pe.
His notable works include:
- Tet Pongyi (The Modern Monk; တက်ဘုန်းကြီး)
- Tet Khit Nat Soe (Devil in Modern Era; တက်ခေတ်နတ်ဆိုး)
- Thabeik Hmauk Kyaungtha (The Boycotting Student; သပိတ်မှောက်ကျောင်းသား)
- Thakin Kodaw Hmaing -- Biography of Thakin Kodaw Hmaing
- Ashay Ga Ne-Wun Htwet Thi Ba Ma (As the Sun Rises from the East; သပိတ်မှောက်ကျောင်းသား) - Winner of Burmese Literary Prize
- The History of Chin State - Winner of Burmese Literary Prize
He wrote several books in English including What Happened in Burma and Over the Ashes. Many of his works are still being republished to this day, and among them Wartime Traveller remains a bestseller. The book has been translated into English as by Dr. Robert H. Taylor.
He also directed a movie Yaukkya Gonyi (A Man's Honour; ယောက်ျားဂုဏ်ရည်). He worked in the Red Dragon Book Association and wrote several plays.
Thein Pe Myint founded The Botataung newspaper in 1958. (He was a former news correspondent of Myanma Alin in the late 1930s.) He was the chief editor of the left leaning influential paper until 1964 when his newspaper was nationalized by the socialist government led by General Ne Win as part of his Burmese Way to Socialism.
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