Du Tu Le ______________________________________________________________

DU TU LE, pseudonym of Lê Cự Phách, born in 1942 in Ha Nam. The Geneva Accord in 1954 forced him to immigrate, with his brother, to South Vietnam, where he settled in Hoi An, Quang Nam, then later in Da Nang. Coming to Saigon in 1956, he pursued education at the high schools Tran Luc, Chu Van An, and the Saigon University Faculty of Letters. He joined the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARV), graduated as an officer from Thu Duc Military Academy, Course 13, and worked at the Psychological Warfare Department as a war correspondent and the managing editor of the ARV’s Tien Phong Magazine. In 1969, he was sent to a training seminar in basic journalism in Indianapolis City, Indiana. As a result of the 1975 events, he came to the US, and resettled in California in April 1975. Du Tu Le started composing and publishing poetry at an early age, in 1953, under many different pseudonyms. The pseudonym Du Tu Le was initially used for a poem published in Mai magazine in Saigon in 1958, and has since been the only pseudonym under his books. His poems has appeared in a number of Vietnamese-language literary magazines at home and abroad before and after 1975, and in the Los Angeles Times in 1983, the New York Times in 1996, the anthology World Poetry / An anthology of Verse From Antiquity To Our Time (New York: Norton) in 1998; also, his poems appeared in some universities’ textbooks since 1990, or used in some universities for education purpose. Jean-Claude-Pomonti, a leading writer for the Le Monde, had chosen one of his poems to translate into French, and had it published in La Rage D’Etre Vietnamien. Du Tử Lê was once mentioned by the late writer Mai Thao as one of the distinguished poets in the Vietnamese contemporary literature; the others are: Vu Hoang Chuong, Dinh Hung, Bui Giang, Nguyen Sa, Thanh Tam Tuyen, and To Thuy Yen. Du Tu Le is the author of more than 40 books. His eponymous debut collection of poems ‘Tho Du Tu Le’ was published in 1964, his most recent ‘[neu can,] hay cho bai thoú mot ten goi !?!’ published in 2006 by HT Productions. “The place where Mother returned” published in this issue is the fifth encomium taken from Du Tu Le’s ‘tributes to Mother on her way home via pacific ocean” translated by Thien Nhat Phuong and Tran Le Khanh, and published by HT Productions in 2002. Publications: Thơ Du Tử Lê (1964), Năm Sắc Diện Năm Ðịnh Mệnh (1965) Tình Khúc Tháng Mười Một (1965) Năm sắc diện, năm nhận định (1965) Tay Gõ Cửa Ðời (1967) Chung Cuộc (collection of story, co-authored with Thảo Trường. VN: 1969) Mắt Thù (1969) Ngửa Mặt (novel. VN: 1969) Vốn Liếng Một Ðời (1969) Qua Hình Bóng Khác (novel. VN: 1970) Mùa thu hoa cúc (children book. VN: 1971) Sân trường mắt biếc (children book. VN: 1971) Chú Cuội buồn (children book. VN: 1971) Hoa phượng vàng (children book. VN: 1971) Mắt lệ cho người (novel. VN: 1972) Ở Một Ðời Riêng (novel. VN: 1972) Khóc Lẻ Loi Một Mình (1972) Mùa hoa móng tay (1973) Với nhau, một ngày nào (novel. VN: 1974) Đời mãi ở tận phương Đông (poetry. VN: 1974) Chỉ Như Mặt Khác Tấm Gương Soi (poetry, 1997) Tan theo ngày nắng vộI (story. US: 1984) Thơ Tình (poetry. US: 1984, 2^nd edition 1992) Ở chỗ nhân gian không thể hiểu (poetry. US: 1989) Ði với về cùng một nghĩa, như nhau (poetry. US: 1991, 2^nd edition 1992) T ôi với người chung một trái tim (novel. US: 1992) Thơ Du Tử Lê, 1967-1972 (US: 1981) Tiếng Kêu Nào Bên Kia Thời Tiết (story) Em Và , Mẹ Và Tôi Là Một Nhé (memoir) Chỗ Một Ðời Em Vẫn Ðể Dành Nhìn Nhau Chợt Thấy Ra Sông Núi Chấm Dứt Luân Hồi Em Bước Ra (CA: Tu Sach Van Hoc Nhan Chung, 1993) K.Khúc Của Lê (poetry set in music) Hoa Nào Tin Quả Ðắng Ðến Không Ngờ / Flowers can’t believe fruits would grow that bitter (translated by Như Hạnh) Em Hiểu Vì Ðâu Chim Gọi Nhau (poetry set in music) Quê Hương Là Người Ðó (poetry set in music) Tôi-Ấu Thơ Và Mẹ (memoir) Truong Khuc Me ve Bien Dong/ Tributes to Mother on her way home via Pacific Ocean (translated by Thien Nhat Phuong and Tran Le Khanh.. CA: HT Productions, 1^st edition 1989, 2^nd edition 2002). [neu can,] hay cho bai thoú mot ten goi !?!’ (CA: HT Productions, 2006) Tel: E-mail : The Writers Post the magazine of literature & literature-in-translation, founded 1999, based in the US. Copyright © 2006 The Writers Post. Nothing in this magazine 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. Return to Contents HOME