Some private memories with poet Pham Tien Duat

I first met Mr. Pham Tien Duat in December 1985 in Hanoi at the 3rd National Conference of Young Writers.

He was a member of the Organizing Committee, and I was an official delegate, as well as one of the three Secretariat members of the Conference. Before my eyes was a gallant, agile and eloquent poet's face, revealing a gift of speech that was enough to make a strong impression on the person opposite from the very first minute. When I shyly expressed my gratitude for him being the one who edited my first collection of poems in the Literature and Arts Weekly - Vietnam Writers' Association in 1981, he smiled and said: "Vinh's poem is already a beautiful vase of flowers, I only did the job of plucking off a few leaves to make the flowers in the vase more vibrant". After this poem was published as a book, I rewrote the last two sentences and changed the title, but his editing content remained the same. Also at that Conference, when preparing the content for the special issue on the passing of the great poet Xuan Dieu, Nguyen Trong Tin (Ca Mau) and I were assigned to write an article from the perspective of the young poets of the Conference to pay respects to the master poet - Xuan Dieu. Tin was busy having fun meeting friends so he gave this honor to me. When he saw that I was hesitant and uncertain, Mr. Pham Tien Duat sincerely and openly said: "Vinh, just write, I will read and edit it for you". That short article was titled "Remembering a teacher - Xuan Dieu" and was later selected to be reprinted in the book "Xuan Dieu - the man & his works" compiled by Mr. Huu Nhuan. I remember below the article were dozens of names of the Conference attendees, most of whom have now become members of the Vietnam Writers Association. And if my memory does not betray me, the eulogy read by theorist - critic Ha Xuan Truong - Head of the Central Ideology - Culture Department at the memorial service for poet Xuan Dieu was also prepared by poet Pham Tien Duat himself, very elaborate and touching. That article has a very poetic title - "A big tree lies down, the whole sky is empty" - showing a very unique style - Pham Tien Duat's style. During his lifetime, he only passed through Binh Thuan but never set foot on this land of the South Central region as he once confessed. But Binh Thuan left in him unforgettable impressions as he himself once confided: "... Talking about red sand, that is talking about a Binh Thuan context. From that red sand, literature, history, and music of an entire land were created...".

Poet Pham Tien Duat was born in 1941, originally from Thanh Ba, Phu Tho province, and entered the battlefield in 1964 after graduating from the Faculty of Literature at Hanoi Pedagogical University. In a very respectful portrait of Pham Tien Duat, poet Tran Manh Hao summarized very accurately with a sentence that I still remember clearly: "Truong Son Road - Pham Tien Duat's Poetry Road". Indeed, his best poems all have addresses on Line 559. Those were the poems that brought him first prize in the Literature and Arts newspaper's poetry contest in 1969 - 1970 and brought to anti-American poetry a new, unique tone that had never existed before. Now, re-reading "Light Fire", "Bomb Sound in Seng Phan", "Truong Son Dong - Truong Son Tay", "Send to You - the Volunteer Girl", "Remember", each of us still has the same emotions from the past.

Professor Le Dinh Ky, in an article published in the weekly Van Nghe to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnamese literature, wrote, in general, "During the anti-American period, there were two schools of poetry: the Che Lan Vien school of poetry and the Pham Tien Duat school of poetry." The professor also pointed out specifically that the Pham Tien Duat school of poetry mainly sought beauty in the vibrant developments of life... Recalling the years living and writing on Truong Son Street, Pham Tien Duat confided: "Professor Le Dinh Ky called me correctly. If I did not have a life surrounded by diverse and noisy people with a hustle and bustle of details flowing every minute, every hour, then I would not have poetry."

After the restoration of peace, he was discharged from the army, worked as a journalist, a manager, and held various positions in the Vietnam Writers Association, but he did not leave the orbit of literature and, in particular, he remained faithful to his "muse". Pham Tien Duat published the following poetry collections: "Moon and Fire Halo (1970)", "Poetry of a Journey (1971)", "At Two Mountain Ends (1981)", "Moon and Fire Halos (1983)", "Poetry of a Journey (poetry collection 1994)", "Lighting a Fire (1996)", "Bomb Sound and Temple Bell Sound (epic poem - 2000)", "Working - Thinking (essay - 2003)". With his outstanding contributions to modern Vietnamese literature, especially the period of anti-American literature to save the country, poet Pham Tien Duat was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts, Phase I, 2001; and the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts, Phase IV, 2012.

He passed away in 2007, to the infinite sorrow of his friends, brothers and millions of readers who admired a typical and excellent poet of contemporary Vietnamese literature.

Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/chut-ky-niem-rieng-tu-voi-nha-tho-pham-tien-duat-120126.html