Maung Paw Tun

Paw Tun entered the literary world in 1958 with the translation of a Russian tale, Seven-Year-Old Girl,^[4] his first novel being Revolt on the Nile (1974).^[5] He later worked as an editor, editor-in-chief and consultant editor at the magazines Pen, Cherry, and Cee-bwaa-yay.^[3] Paw Tun wrote more than 50 translated novels; his renowned works include biographies of Sukarno, Kyun-ma Chit-te Sukarno ('Sukarno Who I Love'), and of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Yevtushenko. Mountbatten Hnint India Lutlatyay Taikpwe, his translation of Mountbatten and the Partition of India, and Harvard Cee-bwaa-yay Tekkatho Hma Ma-thin-khe-ya-thamya, translated from What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School are also popular.^[2]

In 1998, Kan-taa-ya San-yay-aing ('Dessert Pond'), his translation of Annie by Thomas Meehan, won Myanmar National Literature Award for Translation for 1997. He won his second award in the same category for 2006 with Kam-kya-ma Ah-kyin-thaa ('Prisoner of Kamma'), the translation of Mera Naam Joker by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas.^[2]

Paw Tun was awarded the Myanmar National Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement for 2014 by the government,^[6][7] being the first recipient from the translation field.^[5]

Paw Tun was hospitalised for colon cancer in July^[8] and died on 13 August 2022, at his residence in South Okkalapa Township in Yangon.^[2][3][4]