Tin Moe (Maung Ba Gyan) was born in the village of Kanmyè in Taungtha Township, Myingyan, Mandalay Division.

His reputation preceded him when he went on to study at the University of Mandalay at the request of faculty members who had been impressed by an essay he wrote for the matriculation exam.

He was already a published poet under the pen name Kan Myè Nan Myint Nwe in the Ludu Journal of Mandalay.

His early poems were influenced by Min Thu Wun and Zawgyi, who in their time pioneered a new age literary movement while still at Rangoon University.

He responded to the criticism of the political content of his later poems such as Sobs and New Pages by referring to Thakin Kodaw Hmaing whose patriotic and satirical poetry spawned a powerful anti-colonial literary movement while Burma was under British rule.