Writer and translator U Thar Noe (L) hands Moe Zaw his Best Poem award.

THE decline in number of creative literary works by Myanmar writers was highlighted by speakers at the Second Shwe Amuté Literary Awards ceremony held at Parkroyal Hotel in Yangon on May 28.

The awards were organised by and named after Shwe Amuté monthly magazine, which was founded 18 years ago and specialises in publishing works of fiction.

U Aung Thein Kyaw, the ceremony’s presenter, stressed the importance of maintaining the vitality of creative literature in Myanmar, the popularity of which has been in decline since the late 1990s.

“Literary writing aside, most Myanmar-language magazines and journals today are publishing simple works of prose that are full of nonstandard grammar and foreign words,” he said.

The magazine’s publisher and editor-in-chief, U Win Nyein, had said at last year’s ceremony that the awards would encourage the production of more fiction, an art form he said was fading away as more magazines focused on nonfiction.

At last week’s ceremony, awards were given for literary works published in Myanmar magazines between June 2006 and May 2007 in seven categories: short story, long story, serialised novel, poem, essay, feature (exclusive of historical, health and sport articles) and work by an emerging writer.

Htet Myat, a writer and member of the awards scrutiny and selection committee, said in his speech that the winners had been chosen according to a range of criteria, including whether they reflected the contemporary period, were artistic, bore a particular message and were the writer’s own creation rather than translations or foreign-language works adapted to Myanmar’s environs.

Htet Myat said the most worrisome category was best work by an emerging writer.

“Very few new writers contributed to magazines this year compared with last year,” he said. “It wasn’t until near the deadline that we finally found a work by a new writer that fit our criteria.”

“Magazines that publish works by new writers are too rare these days,” he added.

The award winners were Moe Zaw (poem), U Swe Dassanika (short story), Zaw Win Ko (feature), Hsoo Hnget (serialised novel), Kyaw Maung Maung Han (emerging writer), Maung Yint Mar (essay) and Nay Win Myint (long story).