K Za Win
Burmese poet
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K Za Win (Burmese: ကိုကေဇဝင်း; 1982 – 3 March 2021) was a Burmese poet and former Buddhist monk, best known for his collection of long-form poems, My Reply to Ramon.[1]
1982
- Poet
- Buddhist monk
K Za Win | |
|---|---|
| ကိုကေဇဝင်း | |
| Born | Chanthar Swe 1982 Letpadaung, Burma |
| Died | 3 March 2021 (aged 38–39) |
| Occupations |
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Early life and education
K Za Win was born Chanthar Swe (ချမ်းသာဆွေ) in 1982 in the town of Letpadaung, Sagaing Division, Burma to a peasant family.[2][3][4] His family lost land to the Letpadaung Copper Mine, a Chinese-owned mine.[5]
Career
He published his first poem at the age of 16, in a school magazine.[2] K Za Win became an activist, involved in educational reform and land rights. He participated in student-led protests to reform Myanmar's educational system, in opposition to the Myanmar National Education Law 2014.[6][2] On 10 March 2015, he was jailed at Tharrawaddy Prison for over a year.[3] He was a member of the Monywa Poet's Union.[7]
In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, he organised anti-coup demonstrations in Monywa.[2] On 3 March, security forces killed him by gunfire, after firing at a crowd of protesters in Monywa.[2][1] He became one of at least four prominent poets, alongside Myint Myint Zin, Khet Thi, and Sein Win, to be killed that month.[5]