Ko Lay Inwa Gonyi

• Name — Ko Lay • Native Name — ကိုလေး • Born — 11 August 1936 • Birthplace — Inwa, Burma Province, British India • Died — 22 November 2025 • Place of death — Mandalay, Myanmar • Pen Name — Ko Lay Inwa Gonyi • Occupation — Poet • Education — Mandalay University • Notable Works — Lann Thit Poems (1965) • Awards — * Myanmar National Literature Award for Poetry (1965) • Lifetime Award for the Myanmar National Literature Award (2014) • Children — Ma Ni Tar

Ko Lay, the eldest of three siblings, was born on 11 August 1936 in Zegyo, Babaedan Ward, Inwa, to U Chon and Daw Magyi. During the Second World War, he attended Inwa Gonyi School, which had been established in Inwa by Daw Ohn and teachers from Mandalay National School, who had fled the war from Mandalay, together with his father U Chon. He passed the matriculation exam in 1954 and studied pure science at Mandalay University from 1954 to 1959, reaching Inter Part B.

Ko Lay began writing poetry in the sixth grade. While at Mandalay University, he served as a librarian of the student dormitories, and was active in the university's pen club. His first published poem, Our Place the Golden Inwa, appeared in the August 1952 issue of the Mandalay Myanmar Lann Zin newspaper. He soon became well known among Mandalay University student poets and, together with Tin Moe, Maung Swan Yi, and Kyi Aung, was regarded as one of the four leading "Poet Commanders". His poetry collection Lann Thit Poems won the First Prize of the 1965 National Literature Award for Poetry. From 1967 through 2012, he was restricted from publishing under the country's military government due to his involvement in pro-democracy movements. In 2014, Ko Lay received the Lifetime Award for Myanmar Literature, and in 2022, he was awarded the Alinkar Kyawswa by the Burmese government.

Ko Lay married Nyunt Nyunt in 1958. Their daughter, Ma Ni Tar, is also a poet; her 2018 poetry collection Palpitations to Inwa won the National Literature Award for Poetry. Ko Lay died in Mandalay on 22 November 2025, at the age of 89.