Maung Thar Cho released from the Insein Prison on 16 November 2022
Native name
မောင်သာချို
Born
(1958-03-11) 11 March 1958 (age 66) Thonegwa village, Kungyangon Township, Myanmar
Pen name
Jack (Kungyangon)
Occupation
writer
academic
Notable works
For Daughter to Read
Notable awards
Tun Foundation Literary Award (2009)
Spouse
Khin Thet Swe
Maung Thar Cho (Burmese: မောင်သာချို; born 11 March 1958) is a prominent Burmese writer, academic, professor and politician.[1][2] He served as a professor of Myanmar literature at the Yangon Teacher Training College. He wrote satirical articles for the 7Day Daily newspaper under the pseudonym of Jack - Kungyangon. These pieces proved immensely popular and earned him a following among NLD supporters, who invited him to literary talks around the country.[3][4]
Maung Thar Cho is also known for criticizing the Tatmadaw via his literary talks and taking up politically sensitive cases against the Burmese military junta and generals.[5]
Maung That Cho was born on 11 March 1958 in Thonegwa village, Kungyangon Township, Yangon Division, Myanmar. He is the eldest child among three siblings.
He graduated from Yangon University in 1981 with a BA Myanmar. In 1983, he graduated with an honorary BA Myanmar. He received his master's degree in 1988.[6]
He began his literary career in 1973, when he was in 10th grade. A poem, "Khit Thit Metta" which for the first time appeared in the December issue of Thaung Pyaung Htwela magazine is the piece with which he is said to become an author. In 1988, he became a senior editor of Eainmet Phoo magazine.[7]
Later, he worked as a teacher at the Workers College, Regional College, Foreign Language Science, Yangon University, Meikhtila Degree College and Hinthada College. He moved to Yangon Teacher Training College and served as a lecturer in the Myanmar Department.[7]
In 1997, he won the Mandalay Reader's Favorite Literary Award for his article Stars Ahead of Us (ဖျတ်ခနဲတွေ့ရသည့် ကျွန်တော်တို့ရှေ့က ကြယ်တာရာများ). In 1999, he won the Phyu Friends Literary Award for his article For Daughter to Read (သမီးလေးဖတ်ဖို့). In 2000, he won the Taungoo New Archive Literary Award for his book Articles for My Daughter to Read. In 2004, he won the Htan Yeik Nyo Literary Award for his book Linkara Road. In 2009, he was awarded the Tun Foundation Literary Award for his book Articles for My Daughter to Read.[7][8][9]
Maung Thar Cho was arrested in the early hours of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état on February 1, along with state leaders, ministers, and several political figures.[10] He is not in good health after undergoing military interrogation.[11] He was sentenced to two years in prison for incitement charges under Section 505(a) of the Myanmar Penal Code.[12][13] He was released on 16 November 2022 as part of a promised mass release of political prisoners.[14]
He has authored over 72 books, of which 47 bookswrittenthored under Maung Thar Cho ahored under Jack (Kungyangon). Some of his selected works are as follows:
