Saw Wai

{{Short description|Burmese poet}} {{Burmese name|U}} {{family name hatnote|lang=Burmese|Saw Wai}} {{Infobox person | name = Saw Wai | image = File:Saw Wai - Burmese Poet.jpg | caption = Burmese poet Saw Wai at Introductory event of Freedom Filmfest Myanmar | native_name = {{lang|my|စောဝေ}} | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Burma | death_date = | death_place = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = {{hlist|Poet|performance artist|political activist}} | website = }}

'''Saw Wai''' ({{langx|my|စောဝေ}}, {{IPA|my|sɔ́ wè|pron}}), also known as '''U Saw Wai''',<ref name="activists_2020_05_24_frontier_myanmar">[https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/activists-championed-by-rights-groups-have-history-of-anti-rohingya-messaging "Activists championed by rights groups have history of anti-Rohingya messaging,"] May 24, 2020, ''Frontier Myanmar,'' retrieved June 1, 2020</ref> is a Burmese poet, performance artist, and political activist.<ref name="weaver">{{cite news|first=Matthew|last=Weaver|title=Burmese poet arrested over cryptic verse attacking general|date=2008-01-24|work=Guardian Unlimited|url=https://www.theguardian.com/burma/story/0,,2246096,00.html|accessdate=2008-01-28 | location=London}}</ref><ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas">[https://pen.org/advocacy-case/saw-wai/ "Writers at Risk: Saw Wai - Myanmar,"] PEN America</ref> His poems and remarks criticizing the Myanmar military have resulted in his imprisonment, but have also led to international attention and support.<ref name="activists_2020_05_24_frontier_myanmar" /><ref name="mackinnon">{{cite news|first=Ian|last=MacKinnon|title=Poet held after coded attack on Burmese leader|date=2008-01-25|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/burma/story/0,,2246667,00.html|accessdate=2008-01-28 | location=London}}</ref><ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" />

==History== Saw Wai began writing poetry at 14 years of age.<ref name="poetry_as_weapon_2020_04_13_amnesty">[https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/myanmar-i-will-not-surrender/ "Photo story: 'I only have my poetry as my weapon. I will not surrender,'"] April 13, 2020, Amnesty International, retrieved June 1, 2020</ref> In 1988, he was fired from his job at the government communication office for taking part in the 8888 Uprising.<ref name="activists_2020_05_24_frontier_myanmar" /><ref name="mackinnon" /><ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" /> Until the time of his 2008 arrest, he headed White Rainbow, a group of artists and writers working to raise money for AIDS orphans.<ref name="mackinnon"/><ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" />

On 22 January 2008, Saw Wai was arrested by Burmese authorities for publishing a poem that secretly criticized Than Shwe, the head of Burma's ruling military junta. The poem, titled "February the Fourteenth" was published in the Rangoon-based ''Achit Journal'' (Love Journal). If the first letters of each line of the poem were put together, they read "Power Crazy Than Shwe" in Burmese.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7205216.stm | work=BBC News | title=Burma poet held for secret insult | date=January 23, 2008 | access-date=May 23, 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2008/Jan/59-Jan-2008.html Poet arrested for writing "Power Crazy Than Shwe"]</ref> On 28 January 2008, Saw Wai's wife, Nan San San Aye tried to see her husband in Insein Prison, but was denied access. On November 11, 2008, Saw Wai was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for "inducing crime against public tranquility"<ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" /> in publishing the poem mocking Than Shwe.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7721271.stm news.bbc.co.uk, Burma blogger jailed for 20 years]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5igQ39PM8IHKNQZNGD5N4DjGqG35Q |title=afp.google.com, Myanmar blogger jailed for 20 years: opposition |access-date=2008-11-11 |archive-date=2012-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930043643/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5igQ39PM8IHKNQZNGD5N4DjGqG35Q |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="blogger_jailed_2008_11_11_cnn">[https://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/11/myanmar.blogger/ "Myanmar blogger jailed for 20 years,"] November 11, 2008, CNN retrieved June 1, 2020</ref>

On May 26, 2010, Saw Wai was released from prison<ref>[http://www.irrawaddymedia.com/article.php?art_id=18558 Irrawaddy: Jailed poet released – Ba Kaung ]</ref>—five months after completing his two-year sentence.<ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" /> In 2013, when Myanmar Center was established, Saw Wai was one of the founding members. He was elected to the board at by-election in 2014, acting as a secretary until 2016.

In 2018, during the height of the Rohingya genocide (violent atrocities against the Rohingya, western Myanmar's mainly Muslim ethnic minority), Saw Wai published an opinion that defended the government's hostile treatment of the Rohingya, urging people to "please stop blaming the military" for the conflict, blaming the Rohingya and questioning the existence of any evidence that Myanmar's military, the Tatmadaw, had killed thousands of Muslims.<ref name="activists_2020_05_24_frontier_myanmar" /><ref name="saw_wai_letter_2018_05_03mmtimes_com">Saw Wai, opinion essay: [https://www.mmtimes.com/news/open-letter-u2s-bono-and-others.html "An open letter to U2’s Bono and others,"] May 3, 2018, ''Myanmar Times,'' retrieved June 1, 2020</ref>

In April 2019, at a public rally, Saw Wai read a poem encouraging that amendments be made to Myanmar's Constitution, to limit the military's role in politics. In October, 2019, in response to his comments, a complaint was filed against him by the Myanmar military, in Kawthaung Township Court, alleging defamatory statements.<ref name="writers_at_risk_saw_wai_pen_americas" /> As of late May, 2020, he was still facing trial for incitement—his case drawing international attention, including the headline of an Amnesty International photo essay about political prisoners.<ref name="activists_2020_05_24_frontier_myanmar" /><ref name="poetry_as_weapon_2020_04_13_amnesty" /><ref name="writers_at_risk_database_pen_americas">[https://pen.org/writers-at-risk-database/?ajax_s=Saw+wai "Writers at Risk: Saw Wai"] (summary update) PEN America</ref>

==References== <references/>

==External links== * [http://anti-poetry.com/chapbook1/ "Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe"] - A chapbook anthology of poems published February 9, 2008, in response to Saw Wai's jailing.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saw Wai}} Category:Burmese writers Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people