Usman Awang
Encyclopedia
Usman Awang was a Malaysian poet, playwright and novelist. Malaysian National Laureate
(1983). He was born into a penniless family in Johore, and had done coolies and served as a policeman when he was young. He was good at writing traditional Pantun
poems. His career began at
1946, and he was a nucleus member of Angkatan Asas 50».
The prominent Malaysian critic Syed Husin Ali, one of his closest friends wrote this: Usman is popularly considered, and most justifiably too, as perhaps the best poet in the Malay language. Most important, he is accepted without question as a people’s poet. Writing since 1955, Usman did not produce a very large corpus of poetry, only about 200 of them. But the man, his personality, his poetry and his ideas have a much deeper and wider influence than that number would suggest. Much of his poems are simple, clear, oftentimes romantic, and just beautiful. He is a master at weaving words into striking phrases, sentences and verses that are of exceptional classical beauty and sometimes appear to be nostalgic and even escapist.
Malaysian National Laureate
Malaysian National Laureate are individuals who were awarded the Laureate for their contributions to Malay literature.- List of recipients for the Malaysian National Laureate:# 1981 : Kamaludin Muhammad...
(1983). He was born into a penniless family in Johore, and had done coolies and served as a policeman when he was young. He was good at writing traditional Pantun
Pantun
The pantun is a Malay poetic form. The pantun originated as a traditional oral form of expression. The first examples to be recorded appear in the 15th century in the Malay Annals and the Hikayat Hang Tuah. The most common theme is love....
poems. His career began at
1946, and he was a nucleus member of Angkatan Asas 50».
The prominent Malaysian critic Syed Husin Ali, one of his closest friends wrote this: Usman is popularly considered, and most justifiably too, as perhaps the best poet in the Malay language. Most important, he is accepted without question as a people’s poet. Writing since 1955, Usman did not produce a very large corpus of poetry, only about 200 of them. But the man, his personality, his poetry and his ideas have a much deeper and wider influence than that number would suggest. Much of his poems are simple, clear, oftentimes romantic, and just beautiful. He is a master at weaving words into striking phrases, sentences and verses that are of exceptional classical beauty and sometimes appear to be nostalgic and even escapist.