as well as the local literary scene. Despite him not finishing his schooling, he was capable of actively using English, Dutch, and German.

After Anwar's poem "Nisan" ("Grave"; reputedly his first), inspired by his grandmother's death, was written in 1942, Anwar gained recognition. However, his poems were at times still rejected. For example, in 1943, when he first approached the magazine Pandji Pustaka to submit his poems, most were rejected for being too individualistic and not keeping with the spirit of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.