ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE OF WRITING
The Writers Post
LITERATURE & LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION
VOLUME 7 - NUMBER 1, JAN. 2005

Copyright © The Writers Post 1999-2005.

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Current issue: VOLUME 7 -NUMBER 1, JAN 2005

Birds of Paradise, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 inches by Nguyen Khai

Copyright © The Writers Post 1999-2005. Nothing in this issue may be downloaded, distributed, or reproduced without the permission of the author, translator, artist, The Writers Post, and Wordbridge magazine. Creating links to place The Writers Post or any of its pages within other framesets or in other documents is copyright violation, and is not permitted.

Editorial note: Most of the works published in this electronic magazine are simultaneously published in the printed Wordbridge (ISSN: 1540-1723), and vice-versa.

The author’s biographies, the notes on contributors published in THE WRITERS POST and simultaneously in the WORDBRIDGE are written by N. Saomai, the editor-in-chief of the magazines. In The Writers Post, there are three sections in which an author’s biography or a note on the author appears: the issue itself, the author’s bio section, and the list of Vietnamese poets and writers abroad. The author’s bios, and the listings of Vietnamese poets and writers abroad are subject to change where needs be to bring factual information on the authors published in The Writers Post up to date. We thank the writers published in The Writers Post who grant the magazine permission to publish their photographs along with their works or their bios.

Featured artist: NGUYEN KHAI

Nguyen Khai, pseudonym of Buu Khai, artist, born in Hue in 1940, graduated from the National School of Fine Art in 1963, won the Bronze medal at a Spring Art Exhibition in Saigon even before his graduation. One of the founders of the Young Vietnamese Artists Association -- an active and well-known artist group -- in the early 60's, Nguyen Khai committed himself to painting and found it his only way to probe the depth of reality, his inner state, and to pursue the marvellous. While still in his twenties, he became one of the most famous artists in Vietnam. The fall of the South Vietnam forced him to flee his country in 1981, and settled in the American State of California. The painter resumed his painting, and exhibited regularly since then. His most recent exhibitions were at Hoa Mai Gallery, Paris, French (2004), and Viet Art Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA (2005).

-----> Art: Birds of Paradise, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 inches

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TWP’s Sister magazine:

WORDBRIDGE MAGAZINE (ISSN: 1540-1723).

WORDBRIDGE, established 2002, published in the US, is the pioneering magazine of Vietnamese literature in translation in print, and a magazine for literary works of quality originally written in English by established and new writers, edited by the same editor of the Song-Van (ISSN: 1089-8123) and The Writers Post (ISSN: 1527-5469). Wordbridge contains selected literary pieces in a variety of genres: fiction (short stories, excerpts from unpublished novel), poetry (rhymed poems, free verse), translations, reviews, literary critiques, and essays on literature and art.

WORDBRIDGE in major universities and library collections:

 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms

 CORNELL UNIVERSITY Request in: Kroch Library Asia

 HARVARD UNIVERSITY Request in: Widener Harvard Depository

 YALE UNIVERSITY Request in: Southeast Asia Collection.

 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Request in: UC Irvine Library.

 POETS HOUSE 72 Spring Street, 2^nd fl, New York, NY 10012

 KYOTO UNIVERSITY [Japan] Request in: Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

WORDBRIDGE, PREMIER ISSUE, SPRING 2002: Wordbridge is a magazine of literature and literature in translation. Its aim is nothing less than to bring to the reader literary works from established and new writers, in the original language and in translation. Its part in translation is to introduce a foreign literature to those who appreciate not only the enjoyment of reading, but also the knowing and understanding of other cultures. The magazine is published biannually. It features selected pieces in a variety of genres, and will include¾ apart from its main contents, reviews, criticism, and essays.

For the past two years I've had the opportunity to introduce to the online reader some English translations of fiction and poetry from Vietnamese authors through The Writers Post magazine at www. thewriterspost.net. This electronic literary magazine was launched on July 1999, with an emphasis on what the Wordbridge intends: to bring to readers who may want to read the literary works originally written in the Vietnamese language for long entrenched behind the barrier of language. Both magazines are under my editorship, and will work in association with each other. ( MORE…)

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THE WRITERS POST

VOLUME 7 – NUMBER 1 OF JAN. 2005

Editorial Page & Letter to the editor

The Writers Post welcomes letters to the editor, especially letters which are in response to a critique published in The Writers Post. Letters must include the sender’s address and telephone number for verification, and senders must identify themselves by real name. Anonymous letters will not be read. If you send your letter via e-mail, it must be pasted into the body of the e-mail. Don’t send attachments. If you prefer to send your letter via conventional mail, please find The Writers Post’s conventional mail address in The Writers Post Home Page. The editor forfeits the right to correct typing errors or known factual errors, and your letter will be printed as-is. The writers published in The Writers Post express their readiness to discuss any issues they wrote, and The Writers Post would like to print any response, especially to criticism, for other point of view. However, a letter that is considered potentially libelous, or a response that includes the response of a third person will not be published (Here we have a simple reason, an indirect response is considered personal issue, and a bad-behaved response, if intended to be hidden inside the other person’s feedback is considered of low quality and anonymous). Although The Writers Post doesn’t guarantee their publication, all letters are welcomed. ----

Interview with author

NGUYEN MANH TRINH/NGO THE VINH

Nguyen Manh Trinh talked with author Ngo The Vinh

Nguyen Manh Trinh is a member of the editorial board of Hop Luu, one of the most selected magazines published in the US. His publications are: Tho Nguyen Manh Trinh (CA: Nguoi Viet, 1985), Tuyen tap ba muoi nguoi viet sau 1975 (co-authored with Trinh Y Thu (CA: Van nghe, 1989). His poems and short stories appeared in the established literary magazines: The Ky 21, Van Hoc, and Van published in California. Nguyen Manh Trinh conducted several interviews with author, including the interview published in this issue, with Ngo The Vinh, who is the author of 6 books published before or after 1975: Vong Dai Xanh (The Green Belt), published in 1970, Gio Mua published in 1965, Bong Dem 1964, May Bao 1963, ‘Mat Tran O Saigon’ published by Van Nghe Publisher in 1996 in the US, Cuu Long Can Giong Bien Dong Day Song (also published by Van Nghe Publisher. California: 2000), and The Green Belt, a translation version of Vong Dai Xanh translated by Nha Trang and William L. Pensinger (Raleigh, NC: Ivy House Publishing Group, 2004). The interview was conducted in 1996, the text is now translated into Engligh (2004).

Nguyen Manh Trinh talked with author Ngo The Vinh Ngo The Vinh’s Bio

Nguyen Manh Trinh’s Bio

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Literary essay

Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry: On the Path of Transformation by Khe Iem (Click title)

Khe Iem, Vietnamese playwright, storywriter, poet, editor. Born in 1946 in Nam Dinh, North Vietnam, he went into immigration in South Vietnam after the 1954 Geneve agreement divided Vietnam into two separate parts and set each part under a different political regime: Communist North and Capitalist South Vietnam. “Hot Huyet”, his debut literary work, a play, appeared in South Vietnam in 1972. Thirteen years after the Communist conquest of South Vietnam in 1975, he escaped Vietnam by boat in 1988, spending a year in a refugee camp in Malaysia before coming to the United States in 1989, where he settled in California. In 1994, he founded Tap Chi Tho, a very successful poetry magazine which is under his editorship until 2004 (Poetry Magazine, US: Premier Issue launched in Fall 1994). He also published his other books: “Thanh Xuan” (poetry. US, California: Van, 1992), “Loi cua qua khu” (story collection. US, California: Van Moi, 1996), “Dau Que (poetry collection. US, California: Van Moi, 1996), “Tan Hinh Thuc, Tu Khuc va nhung tieu luan khac” (literary essay. US, California: Van Moi, 2003). The essay “Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry: On the Path of Transformation” published in this issue is Khe Iem’s presentation given at the most recent four-day annual meeting which is held by the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in 2004 in San Diego, California. The paper focuses on two periods of modern Vietnamese poetry: 1960 to 1975, and 1975 to the present. Through the views of a poet who conducts Tap Chi Tho Magazine and the Website Tho Tan Hinh Thuc which are supporting Post Modernism and New Formalist poetry (Vietnamese New Formalist Poetry is not to be confused with American New Formalist Poetry in which meter and rhyme still remain - Editor’s note), Khe Iem discusses on how and why Vietnamese poetry transformed, and will transform, in his belief, into New Formalist Poetry. The essay is translated by Joseph Do Vinh.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Khe Iem’s Bio Tho Tan Hinh Thuc

Literature in translation

POETRY - SHORT STORY

Buddha’s tears a short story by Ngo The Vinh (click title)

Ngo The Vinh, born in 1941 in Thanh Hoa, doctor, member of the editorial staff and the editor-in-chief of Tinh-Thuong magazine, a monthly published by the School of Medicine (Saigon University), former 81^st Airborne Ranger M.D. during the Vietnam War. His novel Vong Dai Xanh (The Green Belt), published in 1970, won the 1971 National Prize for Literature. Vong Dai Xanh 2^nd edition was published in 1987 (California: Van Nghe, 1987). This is the fourth book of the author, after Gio Mua published in 1965, Bong Dem 1964, and May Bao 1963. Vong Dai Xanh is followed by his fifth ‘Mat Tran O Saigon’ published by Van Nghe Publisher in 1996 in the US, a collection of 12 short stories, half of which was written before 1975 in Vietnam, the other half written abroad after 1975, and of which the best-known is the short story ‘Mat tran o Saigon’. His most recent books are Cuu Long Can Giong Bien Dong Day Song (also published by Van Nghe Publisher. California: 2000), and The Green Belt, a translation version of Vong Dai Xanh translated by Nha Trang and William L. Pensinger (Raleigh, NC: Ivy House Publishing Group, 2004). His forthcoming collection of stories ‘The Battle of Saigon’, another translation version, will be published by Xlibris, from which three short stories are first published in The Writers Post and the Wordbridge. “Buddha’s tears” published in this issue is his third appearance in this magazine, after his short story ‘The battle of Saigon’ published in the last issue: Volume 5 Double Issue of Winter 2003 & Spring 2004, and ‘Peace will come no sooner’ in Volume 6 -Number 2, July 2004.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Buddha’s tears Ngo The Vinh’s Bio

Linda’s weekend a short story by Nguyen Huu Tri (click title)

Nguyen Huu Tri, short-story writer, professor, translator, interviewer and editor, born in 1936 in NhaTrang (Vietnam), educated at Vo Tanh College (NhaTrang), obtained his Baccalaureate II (1958). Pursuing his higher education, in 1959, he went to the US on the Leadership Training Scholarship (1959-1964), received his BA in English from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1962), his M.S in Linguistics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. (1964), and in 1981, his Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. He returned to Vietnam in 1964, and became an Associate Professor of English and Linguistics, taught courses in Practical English, American Literature, and Methodology of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the universities: University of Saigon (Faculty of Letters, Faculty of Pedagogy, and Medical School), University of Can Tho, and Van Hanh University where he later became, 1966-69, the Director of the Language Center, administered and directed four distinct language programs in English, French, German and Japanese, supervised 14 college teachers of different nationalities. Also, he was an ESL Instructor at the Army Language School of the Vietnamese American Association (under the direction of USIA), and IBM. Saigon. Coming back to and settling in the US in 1969, he worked as a Consultant, IDA, Science and Technology Division (Language and Translation Study) in Washington, D.C. And afterwards, from 1970 to 1971, an Assistant to the Cultural Officer, Embassy of the Republic of Vietnam, Washington, D.C.; from 1971 to 1972, an Instructor of Vietnamese at World Instruction and Translation Inc. (Defense Language Institute contractor), Arlington, Virginia, where he taught Vietnamese to American military personnel; from 1975 to 1976, a Consultant at the National Bilingual Resource Center at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, where he helped many school districts in six Southeastern states set up ESL programs for Indochinese students; and from 1977 to 2002, a Professor at Northern Virginia Community College. Parallelly, from 1972 to present, he was working at VOA as a POV at the Vietnamese Service (1972-1982), and from 1982 onwards, an International Radio Broadcaster (Vietnamese), an interviewer, and an editor. In the field of literature, Nguyen Huu Tri made his name as a writer with the publication of “Thang Ngo” (1992), a collection of Vietnamese language short-stories, which was followed by “An Trua, Nghe Ke Chuyen Tinh”, another collection of stories published by Van (1999). “Linda’s Weekend” is the translation version of the short story “Cuoi tuan cua NG…” from “An trua, nghe ke chuyen tinh”.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Linda’s weekend Nguyen Huu Tri’s Bio

Picking fallen leaves poetry by Song Ho (Click title)

Song Ho, born in 1932, is a poet and a journalist. He began his writing career in 1952 in Hanoi (North Vietnam) and became a journalist after his resettling in 1954 in Saigon (South Vietnam), where he contributed to numerous newspapers, radio broadcast. His most recent book of poems, Da va Hoa, was published by Huong Duong Publisher (1992), after Tho Song Ho, a collection of poems, published by Khai Tri Publisher (Saigon, 1964). Hai Canh Hoa Tim, his first book of poetry, was published in 1960. Rock and Flower, an English-language version of Da va Hoa translated by Song Ho is published in 2000. Some of the poems in this translation version had been published in anthologies or magazines, including Transformed (On the Threshold Of A Dream, 1988), Sunday morning (American Poetry Anthology 1988), A Secular tree (Many Voices and Many Lands, 1989), Once more being a baby (Best New Poets Of 1988, under the title Once more to be a baby.), Lunar Eclipsed Night (Love's Greatest Treasures), The Seasons (Days Of Future's Past), On the Blue Dragon Hill (Selected Poets Of The New Era 1989) Real Golden Sun (The World's Largest Poem For Peace, UN 1991), Finer, Grass & Man, Man & Grass (Song Van Magazine -issue 8&9/1997), That is the difference but the same, Who gives to me, A pink lily (Song Van -issue 10/1997), Turning around ceaselessly, Chrysanthemum, Creation (Song Van, issue 11/1997), The Mountain (Song Van, 1999), Secular tree (Song Van, 1999).

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Song Ho’s Bio

A pair of women’s shoes made in Vietnam by Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh (click title)

Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh -- Her most recent book is Dau An, a collection of short stories published by Van Moi Publisher (2004). This is the fifth book of the author, after Tron Vao Giac Mo Em, a collection of poetry published by Thanh Van Publisher (1997), O Doi Song Nay (a collection of short stories) published by Dai Nam Publisher (1989), Giot Le Xe Hai (a novel) published by Van Khoa Publisher, and Cuoi Dem Dai (a collection of short stories) published by An Tiem Publisher (1993). Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines, one of her short stories has been anthologized in "Tho van hai ngoai nam 2000" (CA: Van Moi Publisher, 2000). Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh is presently the editor of Gio Van, a literary magazine founded in 2002 in the US.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh

On the 30^th day after my child’s birth a poem by Thanh Ton (Click title)

Thanh Ton, pseudonym of Le Thanh Ton, born on 09-09-1943 in Loc Phuoc, Dai Loc, Quang Nam. Having been mobilized he served in South Vietnam’s Armed Force. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he was arrested, and sent to a hard labour camp for seven years from 1975 to 1982. Thanh Ton immigrated to the US in 1997, where he resettled. He published his debut collection of poetry “Tinh Nguoi Song Thu” in 1964 (limited edition, co-authored with Hoang Quy and Thai Tu Hap), which was followed by Thap Tinh (Vietnam, Nguong Cua, 1969). Thanh Ton' s short stories and poems appeared in many literary magazines published in Vietnam before 1975.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Thanh Ton’s Bio

Drinking with a North Vietnamese soldier

Waiting for Spring by the road side Living life a misty vapor poems by Phan Xuan Sinh

Phan Xuan Sinh, born in 1948 in Nai Hien Tay Da Nang. Former officier in South Vietnam Armed Force. After the South of Vietnam collapsed, Phan Xuan Sinh immigrated to the US, where he settled in Massachusetts. His debut collection of poetry, published in Vietnam, “Chen ruou mung” (co-authored with Du My) was followed by “Boi Tren Giong Nuoc Nguoc” (CAN: Song Thu, 2002). His poems have appeared in magazines published in the US after 1975.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Phan Xuan Sinh’s Bio

After-effects, Suppose, I…I, You….You…. poems by Mai Van Phan (click title)

Mai Van Phan, born in 1955 in Ninh Binh, Red River Delta, North Vietnam, member of Vietnam Writer’s Association, winner of some awards for poetry in the provincial and national competition. Mai Van Phan’s Giot Nang (Sun Drop), a collection of poems published by Hoi Van Hoc Nghe Thuat Thanh Pho Hai Phong (The Literature and Arts Association of Hai Phong City) in 1992, was followed by Goi Xanh (Calling Green – poetry collection. Ha Noi, Vietnam: Hoi Nha Van Vietnam /Vietnam Writer’s Association, 1995), Cau Nguyen Ban Mai (Morning Prayer – poetry collection. Hai Phong, Vietnam: Hai Phong Publisher, 1997), Nghi Le Nhan Ten (Name Giving Ceremony – poetry collection. Hai Phong, Vietnam: Hai Phong Publisher, 1999), Nguoi Cung Thoi (People in the same Era – epic. Hai Phong, Vietnam: Hai Phong Publisher, 1999), Vach Nuoc (Water wattle - poetry collection. Hai Phong, Vietnam: Hai Phong Publisher, 2003). His poems also appeared in more than 30 anthologies, including FULCRUM 3 published in the US; in many journals published in Vietnam, including the monthly VAN of the Vietnam Writer’s Association of Ho Chi Minh City, which is under the editorship of Anh Duc, editorial address: 81 Tran Quoc Thao – Q.3 – TP. Ho Chi Minh (Anh da roi, Van: Xuan Mau Dan 1998, Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh 12.1997 – 1.1998); and in the magazines and Vietnamese language websites published abroad, including “Thi Luan” Magazine (S. Korean) and TIEN VE, an online centre for literature and the arts, based in Australia, http://www.tienve.org . After-effects, Suppose, and I…I, You…You…. published in this issue are translated by Do Xuan Oanh, from the original versions published in “Vach nuoc”. This is the second appearance of Mai Van Phan in The Writers Post. Mai Van Phan’s Bio

Translator DO XUAN OANH:

Do Xuan Oanh, born in Quang Yen, Quang Ninh Province, North Vietnam on January 4, 1923, into a poor worker family of the coal mine area; self-educated and became a jack-of-all-trades – journalist, painter, writer, social worker, song writer, translator, peace activist etc. Xuan Oanh translated into Vietnamese many American novels, including Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Also, he translated into English the play Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin to be performed in the US. He retired in 1990 to continue with music and translation works.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Do Xuan Oanh’s Bio

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English literature

SHORT STORY, PLAY, & POETRY

What has happened to “May All Yours Wishes come True” (a play Uyen Nicole Duong)

Two songs for Sean (poetry by Uyen Nicole Duong)

Uyen Nicole Duong, pseudonym of Duong Nhu Nguyen, was born in Hoi An Quang Nam, brought up in Hue and Saigon (former capital of South Vietnam). Uyen Nicole Duong received her B.S. in Journalism / Communication from Southern Illinois University, J.D. from University of Houston (Texas), and LLM from Harvard Law School (Cambridge MA). She is believed to be the first Vietnamese Municipal Judge in the United States (Serving in Texas: Associate Municipal Judge, City of Houston, and Magistrate for State of Texas; honoured by the American Bar Association at “Minority Women in the Judiciary” conference – NYC, 1992). Practicing law but she sees herself primarily as a writer, and writes in two languages: Vietnamese and English. Her pieces in Vietnamese appeared in numerous literary magazines, her English's in Song-Van magazine and Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal. Uyen Nicole Duong's first book 'Mui huong que', a collection of short stories published by Van Nghe Publisher in 1999 was followed by ‘Daughters of the River Huong’ published by RavensYards (2005). Another collection of stories, ‘Chin Chu Cua Nang’ will be published by Van Moi Publisher in the summer of 2005. Her short story The young woman who practiced singing originally published in Song-Van Magazine under pseudonym NhuNguyen Nicole (January-April issue, 1988) won two awards, one of which was the Stuart Miller Writing Award organised by District of Columbia Bar Association, 1988. Her short story The Ghost of Ha Tay published in Volume 4-Number 2-July 2002 was a finalist selection for the Columbine Award of the Moondance Film Festival 2001. Uyen Nicole Duong also writes articles, critiques. Her article "Gender Issues in Vietnam – The Vietnamese Woman: Warrior and Poet" appeared in the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, University of Washington, College of Law, March 2001.

Two songs for Sean What has happened to “May All Yours Wishes come True”

Uyen Nicole Duong’s Bio

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Unlimited Prosperity a short story Hong Khac Kim Mai (Click title for the story)

Hong Khac Kim Mai, born a descendant of Hong Tu Toan --Thai Binh Thien Quoc on 10-15-1945, educated at College Francais de Tourane (Da-Nang), Lycee Marie Curie (Saigon), and Faculty of Letters – University of Saigon (where she joined the student association of which she was later one of the acknowledge leaders), and SU (US), and afterwards became a professor of Vietnamese literature, and a teacher of piano-playing, at various French Colleges in South Vietnam. Hong Khac Kim Mai escaped Vietnam with her children, and resettled in 1977 in the US, where she became a System Analyst (Oregon, Health Department) and a Data Processing Consultant (DASD). After 1999, she abandoned her job to live her secluded life, and devoted most of her time to her literary pursuits. At the age of 15 Hong Khac Kim Mai started composing poetry, in French and Vietnamese, under her real name Hong Khac Kim Mai. Her poems first appeared in the literary magazine Pho Thong which was then under the editorship of the late poet Nguyen Vy. Her poetry collection Mat Mau Nau published in 1965 interested many intellectual readers in Saigon, and brought her into public notice, before came under attacks for being a work of decadent culture, and was banned by the after-1975 government. Mat Mau Nau, the work for which she was best known, was followed by Nhu Phu Van (poetry), Vo Thap (science fiction). Hong Khac Kim Mai writes in Vietnamese language, and recently in English. The short story Face To Face published in the last issue is originally written in English, and later in Vietnamese (the Vietnamese version entitled ‘Giap Mat’ appeared in Nguon magazine, issue 3, June 2004). ‘Unlimited Prosperity’ published in this issue is also written in English and Vietnamese (the Vietnamese version entitled Sung Man Vo Han Dinh). Hong Khac Kim Mai is a woman of broad cultural interests. She composes music and spends time on painting. Tim Noi Suoi Thuong is her collection of songs. In the US, her poems and short stories appeared in the established literary magazines: The Ky 21, Van Hoc, Van, Song Van, Wordbridge, Tap Chi Tho, and recently the new monthly Nguon published in California.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Hong Khac Kim Mai’s Bio

Familiar, Thank you, America Owning to Eve poems by Thanh Thanh (click title)

Thanh Thanh, pseudonym of Le Xuan Nhuan; poet, short-story writer, playwright, literary critic, satirist, stage director, translator, editor, publisher, teacher, war correspondent, and broadcasting manager; born in Hue City Vietnam, in 1930. His other pseudonyms are: Kieu-Ngoc (prose), Nguyet-Cam (dramas), Nguoi Tho (essays), Tu Ngong (satires). He leads the "Xay Dung" literary group and publishing house, which, owing to the numerous books it had published, was recognized as a main branch of the Vietnamese Cultural Tree at the unique pre-1975 National Cultural Festival in Saigon in the late '50s. His first poems and short stories appeared in the Hanoi-based magazines ‘Truyen Ba’ and ‘Tieu Thuyet Thu Bay’ as early as in 1943. Among this his published works before 1975 were: Anh Troi Mai (poetry, 1949; 2^nd edition, 1950; 3^rd edition, 1951), Kiem Xuan Thu (poetry, 1951), Nhac Ngay Xanh (poetry, 1952) La Thu Roi, Tuan Trang Mat (poetry, 1960), Voi Thuong De (poetry, 1964), Ho Quy Ly (verse play, 1950), Quan Ben Song (verse play, 1953), Thang Con Trai (play, 1950), Guom Chinh Nghia (verse play, 1955), and Ray Rut (short story, 1965). In the United States, he has published "Con Ac Mong” (The Nightmare, poems he composed while imprisoned by the communists for more than 12 years. [Texas: The-Gioi Moi, 1998]); "Canh Sat Hoa, Quoc-Sach Yeu-Tu cua Viet-Nam Cong-Hoa" (The Police Plan, an aborted national policy of the Republic of Vietnam. [California: Xay-Dung, 2002]), "Ve Vung Chien Tuyen” (Back to the Front Line. [California: Van Nghe, 1996]). He began to write poetry in English after his resettlement in the States in 1992 and has had his pieces published in several nationwide anthologies, such as: “Best Poems” and “Outstanding Poets” (of the ‘90s and every year since 1994) and “Our 100 Most Famous Poets, the Brief Chronicles of Our Time” (2004) by the International Society of Poets; “Who’s Who in New Poets“ (1996) by Who’s Who Society; “New Millennium Poetry” (2002) by the Famous Poets Society. Thanh-Thanh is a member of P.E.N. International (through PEN Center USA) and a lifetime member of the International Society of Poets. He is going to publish “This Land of Promises," a selection of his English poems, and "Poems by Vietnamese Refugees," a collection of his English verse translated from the work of various renowned Vietnamese poets abroad. Thanh Thanh may be contacted at:

E-mail: PoetFromVietNam@hotmail.com

Web site: http://www.geocities.com/PoetFromVietNam/

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Thanh Thanh’s Bio

Tsunami disaster a poem by Tran Le Khanh (click title)

Tran Le Khanh, writer, translator, social worker in the State of Washington, former teacher at Trung Vuong High School (Saigon, South Vietnam). Tran Le Khanh received her B.A. in Education from Saigon University, and her M.A. in Mental Heath Counseling from Pacific Lutheran University in Washington. She taught ESL and Vietnamese, and is a State Social Worker in Washington. As a translator, she translated into English ‘Truong khuc Me ve bien Dong’ by Du Tu Le / ‘Tributes To Mother On The Way Home Via Pacific Ocean’ (in collaboration with Thien Nhat Phuong).

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Tran Le Khanh’s Bio

One Spring morning by Que Son (click title)

Que Son, pseudonym of Ho Ngoc Son, who was born Nov 25, 1960 in Da Nang Viet Nam. “One Spring morning” is a fragment of his memories about events of spring 1975 as they took place in Da Nang, his hometown, seen through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old boy. Que Son lives in Brooklyn, New York.

ÿ RETURN TO CONTRIBUTORS ÿ Que Son’s Bio

About the translators

Nguyen Ngoc Bich the translator of A pair of women’s shoes made in Vietnam

Nguyen Ngoc Bich, educator, lecturer, author, translator, born in Hanoi Vietnam, educated in Saigon, the US, Japan and Europe, received his B.A. in Political Science from Princeton University in 1958. He did graduate work in Asia studies at Columbia University (1959-65), Japanese literature at Kyoto University (1962-63) bilingual education and theoretical linguistics at Georgetown University (1980-85). In 1975, he came to the US, settled in Virginia, where he taught adult education, elementary school and high school in Arlington, then Vietnamese Literature and Vietnamese Culture and Civilization at Trinity College, George Mason University, and taught at Georgetown University as a teacher trainer in bilingual and Multicultural Education. He is also one of the founders of National News Service, which provides news of interest to readers of Vietnamese language newspapers worldwide. In 1997, he joined RFA (Radio Free Asia) as the Director of the Vietnamese Service at Free Asia in Washington DC.

Nguyen Ngoc Bich is the author of several books mainly in English, editor of the anthology War and Exile: A Vietnamese Anthology, an anthology of stories and poems, published by Vietnamese PEN Abroad East Coast Center in the US (1989). His first book 'The Poetry of Vietnam' published by Asia Society of New York in 1969 was followed by three others: North Vietnam: Backtracking on Socialism (1971), An Annotated Atlas of the Republic of Vietnam (1972), and A Thousand Years of Vietnamese Poetry (Knopf, 1975). He co-authored with his wife, Dr. Dao Thi Hoi, a bilingual collection of Christmas carols (1975), and had a hand in doing a photography book by Tran Cao Linh, Vietnam, My Country Forever (Aide à l’Enfance du Vietnam, 1988), the catalogue of a traveling exhibition of Vietnamese and Vietnamese American paintings, An Ocean Apart (Smithsonian, 1996), the book Thai Tuan: Selected Paintings and Essays (VAALA, 1996).