Min Khak Soesan - A pair of wings that never leave the sky

Calm sea or

...................................= Truth Red

(A) He is a writer who writes deeply and thoughtfully on modern and postmodern concepts. He is also a final year student at the University of Medicine. However, his appearance does not match the above characteristics, and he looks like a rural elementary school teacher. He is a man of great power.

If there were two young people who emerged in the literary world after 1990 who attracted people's attention, they would be Tara Min Wai and Min Khak Soe San. Both of them are writers of both poetry and prose, and they share the same passion for reading and studying international literature and literary theories, and they have walked the same path in the same era. The weakness of our Burmese literary world is that those who write literature, prose, and poetry do not study and pursue literary theories. That is why they have been slow to improve.

Some young writers of today are trying to overcome these shortcomings. They have not only read and studied, but also written articles on ideological issues. Among them, Min Khak Soe San is at the top. His real name is Kyaw Soe. He has a dark skin and a sweet smile. He is not only simple in clothes but also in behavior. He is always seen in a white T-shirt. Under his thick glasses, he has a pair of narrow eyes. Just as it is difficult to judge the depth of the sea by looking at the vastness of the sea, he is not someone who is easy to find impressive. However, his pen name itself seems to have a difficult character.

I noticed early on that he had a strange passion for books. No matter who came to my house, he would not even sit down to chat, but would go to my bookshelves and sit down on the floor, picking up his favorite books one by one, and reading them without lifting his head. When everyone got up to go to the tea shop, I would often have to call him from the bookshelves.

He was also seen as a person of extraordinary respect and gratitude in the interview with Ma Hay Thi Magazine. I read that he never forgot or forgot the gratitude of those who first paved the way for him to enter the literary world. That is why I was not surprised to see that even my friend Myat Thit Gyi, who rarely shows kindness to others, was so kind to him. (He called him U Lay Sein Than in his interview.) Then... he was the father of Saya Zaw Zaw Aung, and the crown prince was Ko Nyein Aye, and those around him could only be kind to him and take care of him. The one who really made him a great leader was himself.

(B)

Since ancient times, Yangon University has been a gathering place for student writers. Ko Nyein Kyaw, Anyatama, Pi Tauk (Kalaw), Maung Nyi Lat (Than Lhi Sun), Maung Nantha, Aung Tha, etc., who were active around the year 1970, are no longer here. They have passed away. Zaw Zaw Aung, Maung Pan Hmwe (teachers at that time) and Myat Thit, Maung Tha No, Aung Pyae, Maung Min Ya are still there, but some of them have distanced themselves from the literary world. Later, Nay Oo, The Ko Thet group (sons of writers Maung Ne Win and Khin Maung Htwe (Pyin Mana). Among them, Ko Ko Htoo later became the editor-in-chief of Dagon magazine. At the same time, the Maung Pyae Min, Rama (Bhumi), Shwe Min Thein, and Kyaw Win Maung groups, then stopped their literary activities for more than a decade. After 1990, they re-emerged with renewed vigor. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the small books of poetry they published transcended university campuses and reached the outside world. Among the many groups, Century Thit Myit Kyung is arguably the most dynamic and the most comprehensive. The books they published often included writers from universities all over Burma. Therefore, I see him as someone who had taken firm steps and boldly chosen the path he would follow before he appeared in magazines.

“I’m afraid this boy will become the Colin Wilson of Myanmar,” Ko Myat Thit said recently. Colin Wilson, who wrote the book The Outsider, was about 25 years old when he passed away, like Min Khak Soe San. Ko Myat Thit’s passion is to drown in literary theories and weaken his own creative art. (Colin Wilson is not as successful in his own novels as he is in his conceptual books.) We want the young people we love to be gold. We don’t want them to be stone.

However, when the group of writers decided to compile and publish his short stories, a considerable number of them emerged, and I was relieved to see that he had not lost any of his artistic creativity.

There may be some that he liked when he wrote them but is not satisfied with now. (We often encounter this kind of disappointment when we plan to publish our own works of poetry.) There may also be some that he still likes and appreciates. Before I say what I like or dislike, there is one thing I can say for sure about his short stories. That is that his short stories boldly break away from the traditional short story genre and are full of fresh ideas.

(C)

The term history may be a bit broad to use at the moment. However, it cannot be denied that new social relations, new economics, new politics, new cultures, new ideas and new arts, are clearly evolving even before the term era or the concept of a long period of connection is thought to have existed. (However, there are those who blindly deny this.)

Now, as modern and postmodern literature are being attacked with fear and responsibility, I am proud to see that Min Khak Soe San is a good target.

I do not believe in the conflict between the old and the new. I have only the task of building what I believe in (the new), and I have never thought that there is a conflict with the old. I am not interested in preaching to those who are trying to melt iron with a straw that is about to die. Craving, pride, delusion, and ignorance will go their own way.

I think that my younger brother Min Khun Soe San has chosen his own path and walked it with determination and courage. I also think that he has come a long way in a short time. His literary journey ahead may be difficult, rough, and rough. However, there is no doubt that he has the determination, energy, and intelligence to overcome that journey well. I believe that he has no worries for him at all. .

With love and respect

Red truth

(January, 1998)