Khin Hnin Yu

Khin Hnin Yu (ခင်နှင်းယု, pronounced [kʰɪ̀ɰ̃ n̥ɪ́ɰ̃ jṵ]; 7 September 1925 – 21 January 2003) was a two-time Myanmar National Literature Award winner. She is considered one of the most influential Burmese women writers.[1] Her stories are known for their realistic portrayal of life in post-World War II Burma (now Myanmar). She is an early member of Distinguished women writers, who represent an ever-present force in Burmese literary history, along with Kyi Aye and San San Nweh. Almost all her over 50 published novels involve young heroines who had to struggle for their survival.[1]

Khin Hnin Yu
ခင်နှင်းယု
BornKhin Su
(1925-09-07)7 September 1925
Wakema, Wakema Township, British Burma
Died21 January 2003(2003-01-21) (aged 77)
Yangon, Myanmar
Occupationwriter
Period1952–2003
GenreRomance, short story
Notable worksHmwe (1959); Mya Kyar Phyu (1995)
Notable awardsMyanmar National Literature Award (1961, 1995)
SpouseKyaw Thaung (1950–1970)
RelativesU Nu (cousin)

Khin Hnin Yu was a cousin of, and the personal secretary for, the former Burmese Prime Minister U Nu for more than 20 years. Khin Hnin Yu attended Myoma High School in Yangon.[1] She died in 2003 at the age of 78.[2]

Biography

Khin Hnin Yu was born Khin Su (ခင်စု), the fifth of seven children, to Daw Thein Tin and school teacher U Ba in Wakema in the Irrawaddy delta. A cousin of U Nu, she served as the former Prime Minister's personal secretary for more than 20 years. She married Kyaw Thaung, a colonel in the Burmese army, in 1950.

Her first short story "Ayaing" ("The Wild") was published in Sar Padaytha magazine in 1947. In 1950, her first novel, Nwe Naung Ywet Kyan (နွေနှောင်းရွက်ကျန်; Remnant Leaf of Late Summer), was published in Shumawa magazine. She wrote over 50 novels and most are known for her political views of the parliamentary and military socialist eras (1948-1980s). For example, her 1955 short story "Mhyawlint Lo Phyint Ma Sohn Naing De" ("Still Hoping") covers the social stigma still faced by a daughter of former pagoda slaves.[3] A semi-biographical novel Kyunma Chit Thu (ကျွန်မချစ်သူ; My Lover) was banned by Gen. Ne Win's government, and the themes of her later books shifted to focus on religion.[1]

Khin Hnin Yu died in Yangon on 21 January 2003 at the Yangon General Hospital.[4]

Works

Khin Hnin Yu wrote over 50 novels and about six volumes of short-stories collections. Her famous works include:

YearBook TitleBurmeseEnglish MeaningNotes
1953Saung Twin Panဆောင်းတွင်းပန်းWinter's Flower
1959HmweမွှေးSweet ScentSemi-biographical; regarded as her masterpiece

one of the most-printed Myanmar novels. 12 th time printed

1960Sein Thint Mha Seinစိမ်းသင့်မှစိမ်းLeave Me If You Should
1960Kyemon Yeik Thwin Wuttu-to Myarကြေးမုံရိပ်သွင် ဝတ္ထုတိုများMirror Image-Like Short StoriesWinner : Myanmar National Literature Award for Collected Short Stories
1961Ngwe Naung Ywet Kyanနွေနှောင်းရွက်ကျန်Remnant Leaf of Late Summer
1961Pan Myar Ko Pwint Say Thuပန်းများကိုပွင့်စေသူPerson who can Bloom Flowers
1962Pan Pan Lhwet Parပန်းပန်လျက်ပါStill Wearing Flower
1962Tha Khwet Panသခွတ်ပန်းThakhut Flower
1962Aung Myin Tgaw Ngaeအောင်မြင်သောနေ့Victorious Day
1963Moe Kyaw Thuမိုးကျော်သူMoe Kyaw Thu
1964TharahpuသရဖူCrown
1965La Min Kyi Thar San Parလမင်းကြီးသာစမ်းပါPlease shine brightly, dear Moon
1972Kyunma Chit Thuကျွန်မချစ်သူMy Lover
1995Mya Kyar PhyuမြကြာဖြူWhite LotusWinner : Myanmar National Literature Award for Fiction
1998Banya Sheinဗညားရှိန်းBanya Shein
2003Ziwa Soe San Einဇီဝစိုးစံအိမ်Cave Swiftlet's NetCollection of author's articles after her death.
Book cover of Khin Hnin Yu's Mya Kyar Phyu (1995) features the struggle of a woman neglected by her husband, which earned the author her second National Literature Award

Most of her novels are adapted into the famous films. Her novella Pan Pan Lhwet Par (Still Wearing Flower) was made into film of the same name in 1963, starring Kawleikgyin Ne Win, Myat Lay and Kyi Kyi Htay. It was very successful, running over 25 weeks and become highest-grossing film in history of Myanmar Cinema.

Awards

Khin Hnin Yu won top Myanmar National Literature Award twice.

References
  1. U Thaung (Aung Bala) (1981). "Contemporary Burmese Literature". Contributions to Asian Studies. 16: 81–99.
  2. "VOA Myanmar". A Tribute To Renowned Author Khin Hnin Yu. Retrieved 25 January 2003.
  3. Thaw Kaung. "Myanmar Short Stories (Part 1)". Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  4. Ziwa Soe San Eing in Burmese inc. Yangon: Seikku Cho Cho Books. 2003. pp. 3–5.
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