WRITTEN IN BLOOD

Myanmar's warrior poets publish their most intimate thoughts as civil war rages

- THANA BOONLERT

In 2015, Joe Freeman and Aung Naing Soe noticed the prominent status of poetry in Myanmar politics. At the time, both journalists heard that Maung Saungkha, a 23-year-old poet, posted a poem about having a tattoo of an unnamed president on his penis on Facebook. Saungkha, however, was charged for defaming former president Thein Sein under telecommunication law, serving a six-month jail term.

"It was eyeopening into the world of Myanmar's poetry playing such an outsized role," said Freeman, a journalist-turned-researcher for Amnesty International, in an event to mark the launch of their book titled Frontline Poets: The Literary Rebels Taking On Myanmar's Military at The Fort in Bangkok last month. The whole project took around three years.

In the wake of the military coup on Feb 1, 2021, poets have been taking up guns in the battlefield. A month after an end to civilian rule, those from the Myanmar Poets Union showed three-finger salutes in Yangon. When the earthquake hit Myanmar early this year, poets helped deliver humanitarian aid. It inspired two authors to examine why they are doing so.

"They are on the frontline of every single economic, political or social crisis, going back to the start of anti-British uprisings," said Freeman "This trend continues up until the present day, with many poets resisting the military coup."