Poet - Teacher Nguyen Bui Voi was born on November 5, 1933 in Cat Ngan commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province. Graduated from the College of Social Sciences, Nanning Campus - China in 1956, he was assigned to Hanoi Pedagogical School and then transferred to teach in Vinh Phu from 1957 - 1971.
He then worked at the Literature and Arts Department of the Voice of Vietnam until March 1996 when he retired. The Education and Times Newspaper (under the Ministry of Education and Training) invited him to be the editor of the culture and arts page until 2000, when he retired to become a freelance writer. He became seriously ill and passed away on May 8, 2008, mourned by his family, friends and poetry lovers across the country.
I have read his poems for a long time, but it was not until 1994, when he went to Binh Thuan for work, that I met poet Nguyen Bui Voi in person. We shook hands and chatted about life and career, which made me love and respect him even more. Because, between the writings and the person of teacher - poet Nguyen Bui Voi are consistent like a shadow and a body, there is no distance.
As an excellent literature teacher, a loyal and unsettled person who voluntarily devoted himself to poetry, he was partly rewarded through a number of poems that were loved by many readers, respected by colleagues, and selected to be included in textbooks for teaching in the general education program. Some typical poems include: Qua Tham Thinh, Vang vac sao Khue, Ngay em xa, Noi nho khong mua, Vi tuong ve tham truong cuu, Cai gia, Chong Nghe...
In addition to the famous poem Qua Tham Thinh that many people know by heart, he also has many poems that are in the memory of readers across the country, especially those who love and are passionate about literature.
He wrote about Nghe An - his birthplace - with unique, delicate, and unmistakable details:
I smiled confusedly but sadly
I love you like I love my hometown
Lao wind blows through the bamboo bank
Just by the voice I heard it was hard.
(Nghe)
He writes about literary friends with a soulmate and confidant heart like "Ba Nha - Tu Ky" which is not easy to find or have in the current market mechanism:
I miss you after a few days away.
The night turned cold, I was worried my friend's knee would hurt.
See you in the afternoon, nothing to talk about
Just sitting and looking is enough to love each other.
(You, spring)
He dedicated these simple, sincere poems drawn from the depths of his heart to his hard-working, patient wife:
Sunny day, take out blankets and mats to dry
Busy couple week, cleaning the house and changing pillowcases
I can't change what you do.
The motherly diligence is in me.
(The day you left)
On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of Nguyen Trai's birth, which is also the occasion for UNESCO to honor him as a world cultural celebrity, he wrote the poem "Vang vac sao Khue", in which there are verses expressing the profound dimension of the great man's stature, very simple but touching the reader's heart:
On velvet but sleepless night
The king's shirt does not warm one side of my heart
After defeating the enemy, he returned with white hair.
My heart still aches for a hundred human sorrows.
He is one of the few poets of the previous generation who has always devotedly cared for, discovered, and introduced writers from the provinces thousands of kilometers away from the capital Hanoi, including me. The meticulousness, delicacy, and carefulness of his years of teaching have left a clear mark in the process of commenting on, appraising, and editing poetry while he was working at the Literature and Arts Department of the Voice of Vietnam Radio and the Education & Times newspaper.
With the collaboration of poets Quang Huy and Vu Quan Phuong, he is the editor-in-chief of the work "Vietnamese Poetry of the 20th Century - Lyrical Poetry" - published by the Education Publishing House in 2004. This is a massive collection of poems, carefully selected, aiming to portray the portrait of Vietnamese poetry in the 20th century; it is a special reference book for students, teachers, university students, postgraduates and poetry lovers nationwide. Binh Thuan has 4 poets participating in this work, including: Phan Minh Dao, Le Nguyen Ngu, Do Quang Vinh, Huynh Huu Vo. In 1998, the Education & Times Newspaper organized a Luc Bat poetry contest (lasting from May 1996 to May 1998) to celebrate the 8th National Party Congress, and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the newspaper's first issue. Encouraged by him, I submitted my poems to the contest, some of which entered the final round, and before that, during the first preliminary round, my poetry collection received an award from the Organizing Committee. The contest was honored to have the great poet To Huu as an advisor, and the Final Round Council gathered typical and famous poets from all over the country such as: Huu Thinh, Vu Quan Phuong, Quang Huy, Vuong Trong, Tran Dang Khoa. He did not say anything, but I knew that, as a member of the Preliminary Round Council, he had devoted a lot of effort and enthusiasm to contribute to the success of the contest, with 32,862 poems submitted by 6,861 authors from all over the country.
He clearly revealed the upright and assertive temperament of a Central Vietnamese person, and this caused him many hardships and difficulties in both his teaching and writing careers. In 2002, with the encouragement of his family and the help of his close friends, he published the Poetry Collection of Nguyen Bui Voi, over 300 pages thick with 132 selected poems and 2 typical poetic stories. This can be considered the most quintessential part of his "artistic assets" through nearly half a century of diligently composing while also teaching.
He has quite unique experiences and conclusions about the harshness of the writing profession. When he was alive, he once shared with me, “… The writing profession of our brothers is very strange, Vinh. Some of us only reap one crop and make a living for our whole life. That is talent. As for us, those who are less talented, just reap each crop and make a living from that crop…”
Dear Mr. Nguyen Bui Voi! A person who has had hundreds of poetry reviews in the North and the South; whose works have been included in textbooks taught to students for a long time; editor of many valuable poetry collections, highly appreciated and respected by colleagues for his pure, selfless, and unselfish heart; wholeheartedly helping young writers and poets. How could such a person be lacking in talent and morality?
After his death, his family spent time selecting typical poetry reviews and some articles written by friends about him, publishing 2 books to commemorate him, including the collection: "Nguyen Bui Voi voi tinh doi" (The Writers' Association Publishing House - 2015). Ms. Tu - a gentle wife who loved her husband very much, sent the book to his friends in the South and the North with sincere feelings as when he was alive. Remembering him - I remember an excellent teacher who devoted himself to the career of "cultivating people" - a kind poet who left a deep impression on his colleagues and admirers. I would like to borrow the assessment of poet Huu Thinh - former Chairman of the Vietnam Writers' Association in his eulogy to send him off to the eternal world in 2008, to end this article. “… He has set a shining example of responsibility and dedication in artistic work, whether it is composing, editing or all relationships with colleagues and friends near and far… He is one of the outstanding poets of contemporary Vietnamese poetry…”.
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/nho-anh-nguyen-bui-voi-dau-dau-van-chuong-tham-tham-tinh-doi-125343.html
Comment (0)