Author of ‘Breaking the Cycle’ novel explains his reasons for delving into the Myanmar crisis

Mizzima

‘Breaking the Cycle’ is the first novel to chronicle Myanmar’s Spring Revolution, a dual-timeline epic spanning 1942 World War II Burma and 2024 and the ongoing and evolving crisis. The book is due for publication by Chinthe House on February 1, 2026 – the fifth anniversary of the Myanmar military coup d’etat.

In the following interview with French author Jak Bazino, Mizzima asks about the inspiration for this fascinating human tale of mystery and struggle in a country still trying to find itself after decades of military misrule.

What inspired you to write this novel?

Growing up, my grandparents’ accounts of German occupation and the French Resistance sparked an obsession with history. Not the grand sweep of events, but the human stories within them. I learned early that we understand the past through individuals, not statistics. How else could we truly grasp the Holocaust’s horror, for example, except through survivors like Elie Wiesel?