Tè Tô

Tè Tô, or Ong Phé by his real name, was born in 1914 in Syriam. From 1930 he studied at the University of Yangong (Rangoon). Upon completion of his studies, he exercised various liberal professions, teaching English at the university, then working in the English colonial administration as a translator, he became a representative of Associated Press. Little by little he approached the world of letters, being part of literary commissions, of the team of the Burmese Encyclopedia, editing newspapers. For a long time he had published translations from English, but with his "Official" (Ming hmou dang, 1940) he made an original work. This novel received the “Sapé bei'mang” literary prize in 1950. The author describes the pre-war administration using his personal experiences. He has written plenty of short stories, which range from an unassuming little story to raw realism and drollness. like his “Brainless Ba Mo” (Chou mewa review November 1955), with a ruthless and sarcastic character analysis, as in “On edge” (Chou mewa, September 1957); Tè 'Tô also wrote essays on literature and poems.