Giving Alms

“Karma has failed us,” my husband whispered into our dark bedroom. With his hand over his mouth, he stopped himself from wailing. What an incredibly loud noise sorrow makes when muffled, a noise that distils the air in your lungs to heavy stones.”

Giving Alms gifts us three short stories based on the narratives of the people of Myanmar. Carefully revealing the hidden intricacies of human vulnerability and pain in society, these stories reflect on how a society heals and resolves resentment after years of social and political oppression. Each story takes on different dualities—desire and duty, denial and acceptance, indifference and sympathy—against the harsh landscape of Burmese society.

Khin Chan Myae Maung is a young writer from Myanmar. She studied Sociology and Literary Arts in Melbourne and is currently working as an English teacher in Myanmar.

As a writer, her work consists of short fiction, poetry and nonfiction essays. She was recognized as Judges Choice Writer in the Ithaca College Writing Contest 2016, after placing first in both fiction and poetry. Her work can be found in Still Water Magazine, Rough Cut Zine, Frontier Magazine, and Yangon Literary Magazine. Giving Alms is her first published work of short stories.