Quang Ninh's military writers

Several books written about war by artists in the province have been published recently.

I would like to "name" a few writers in the literary and artistic creation force in the Quang Ninh Mining Region whose achievements are the generation of writers who once wore soldier's uniform during the resistance war against America to save the country. Among the large number of members of the Provincial Literature and Arts Association, there are many war veterans who participated in the fronts and were assigned to various military branches during the resistance war. They returned to normal life, each with a job and a life, but their love for literature and arts was always in their hearts. The desire to satisfy their burning passion for words urged them to write and recreate life through the pages of colorful novels about war and the rear for readers.

Some poetry collections about war by Quang Ninh authors.

Cam Pha City is probably the locality in the province with the most war veteran writers, namely Tran Ngoc Duong, Trong Khang, Nguyen Duy Liem, Nguyen Tung Lam... These writers all have made great and effective contributions to the general literary movement, and to the Quang Ninh prose genre in particular. Writer Tran Ngoc Duong has published more than 10 short stories and novels, and has won awards in and outside the province.

In Dong Trieu City, there is the writer and veteran Dinh Duc Cuong, who published the novel “ A corner of the war ”, giving readers a more detailed picture of the war in the Central Highlands battlefield in which the author was an insider. The poet and veteran Tran Quang Thanh is still devoted to his poetry, he has published several collections of poems and is always concerned with the topic of soldiers. He participates in activities of the Veterans Association, the Truong Son Tradition Association in the province and locality and is very enthusiastic about organizing useful activities “returning to the source” every year. Writers and poets who wore soldier uniforms during the resistance war against the US in Ha Long City include Ngo Hai Dao, Do Dang Hanh, Doan Duc Chinh, Phung Ngoc Dung. In Uong Bi City, there is poet Tran Quang Ngan, in Dong Trieu City, there is poet Ly Thanh Luong.

Three war diaries have been published by Quang Ninh authors.

In Quang Yen town, there are poets Le Huu Lich, Le Duy Thai, Luong Liem..., each with their own strengths. Poet Le Duy Thai is a war invalid, a veteran, attached to the fiery front of Military Zone 5. After the war, he, like many of his comrades, returned to continue studying, striving, becoming Vice Principal of the Provincial Party School, and then retiring. He is over 80 years old this year, but is still enthusiastic, passionate about poetry . In 2024, he published a poetry collection "Poetry written in the middle of the battlefield" full of heroic tragedy and the smell of war bullets. Writer and war veteran Luong Liem in Quang Yen town has published several collections of novels, poems, and short stories. Like many other friends and comrades, he remains loyal to the theme of war and soldiers. Each author has made certain contributions to the literary movement of the province in the past 50 years (1975-2025). Among those writers who once wore military uniforms, many became members of the Vietnam Writers Association , and won major literary awards at the provincial and national levels...

The author of this article has the opportunity to work at the Provincial Literature and Arts Association, and during his work, he has accompanied Quang Ninh artists and writers in many different aspects. The war veterans who are still in good health, the severely wounded soldiers are still devoting their creative abilities to writing. Writing is a personal need, writing is the desire to contribute to life the stories of writers who once wore military uniforms, who were living witnesses in each historical period they went through. There are many male members of the association who were once soldiers, who write and write poetry, but there are very few women. In the forest of veteran writers and writers, there is only one female poet, Nguyen Thi Hoang Hoa, who has many creative achievements, her poems have won the Ha Long Literature and Arts Award, and she is the first artist of the Mining Region to be honored in the province.

There are two writers who are 1/4 severely disabled veterans: Nguyen Tung Lam in Cam Pha City and Do Dang Hanh in Ha Long City. Both writers started writing again when they were almost 60 years old, although they knew they were "physically and physically exhausted", they still wrote non-stop. Writer Nguyen Tung Lam, in just 10 years of focusing on writing, published 7 works including novels, short stories, poems, and memoirs. He not only wrote well, but also won literary awards from the ministry, industry, and province; he is truly an example of the literary work of a veteran writer, severely disabled veteran, very worthy of respect. Writer Do Dang Hanh has an impressive literary legacy of both novels and poems, having published nearly 20 books in the period since he started writing, which was only 20 years.

Poet and folklore researcher Nguyen Quang Vinh, who was present at the Independence Palace on the historic afternoon of April 30, 1975. He was formerly the deputy commander of the provincial Border Guard, and has written more than 15 books including poetry and folklore research. He is a folklore researcher who has made many contributions to this topic in Quang Ninh, a field that few people pursue with the same passion and enthusiasm as him.

2 1 year ago, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its founding, the Provincial Literature and Arts Association coordinated with the Provincial Military Command to organize a writing contest about soldiers. A contest of political significance for the province that year, there was an author who was a veteran whose work won first prize. That author was Nguyen Duy Liem, living in Cam Pha City, suffering from Agent Orange. When I was assigned by the organizing committee to contact and invite the author to receive the award, he begged, "Please don't make me go on stage, okay?" I said, "You have to go on stage, it's first prize, just wear your military uniform and you'll look great!" And I will always remember the image of the skinny veteran that day. After receiving the award, the author continuously introduced works mainly about the theme of war, about the military rear, about many other aspects of life, through the genres of short stories, novels, memoirs... He wrote tirelessly as if he had no time left to write. 20 years since the first work "Floating River" was awarded the prize on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam People's Army (2004), in 2015 the novel "The War is Over" by the author was awarded the prize by the Ministry of National Defense ; in 2023 the first prize of the Ha Long Literature and Arts Award. I realize that the two first prizes for literary composition of writer Nguyen Duy Liem are a rare thing in the creative journey of a writer in about 20 years immersed in words. This shows that the labor of words is not easy for each author in general, and for the writer CCB Nguyen Duy Liem in particular. Writer Nguyen Duy Liem has become a member of the Vietnam Writers Association, has had 14 published works, won many awards at the ministerial, sectoral and Quang Ninh provincial levels.

Writer Duong Huong passionately writes about post-war topics.

Among the team of writers and poets who once wore the uniform of soldiers, the leading flag must be the writer Duong Huong with the novel "Ben khong chong". He is the pride of the literary force in Quang Ninh in particular. A writer and soldier who went through the life-and-death battle in the resistance war against the US of the nation, those who are interested in the literary life of Vietnam in general, Quang Ninh in particular, cannot help but know the writer Duong Huong. He was in the fierce battlefield of Military Zone 5 during those years. When he returned to civilian life, he was a customs officer like thousands of others, but the memories of war urged him to publish the work "Ben khong chong" and "shake" the Vietnamese literary world in the early 90s of the 20th century. The novel won the official award of the Vietnam Writers Association in 1991, considered as "an explosion" in the literary atmosphere at that time, one of the pioneering literary works of the post-war literature; is a "hot" issue in the post-war period that the whole society is concerned about, the "gains and losses" of the nation after the end of the great resistance war, fighting the French, chasing the Americans to reunite the country; the soldiers and their rear, recreating the rural picture full of worries in the difficult and backward post-war period. The novel was made into a feature film of the same name, adapted into the TV series "Thuong nho o ai", the Silver Lotus Award at the 13th Vietnam Film Festival. The novel has been translated into English, French, German, Italian... With this novel, he was honored to receive the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2017 and many other awards. Writer Duong Huong is currently Chairman of the Prose Council of the Vietnam Writers' Association. He is still a prolific writer in the literary world with works that are considered to have weight on the themes of war and post-war.

Among the war veteran writers of the Quang Ninh Province Literature and Arts Association, there are still some authors who quietly write and nurture their passion for literary creation, such as the post-1975 generation of war veterans and writers such as Truong Thieu Huyen, Dinh Van Thai, Nguyen Dinh Thai, Pham Thai...

Half a century when the country was united , in the historical flow of the country in general, there was the presence of Quang Ninh writers with valuable literary works, contributing to enriching the literary treasure of the province .

Vu Thao Ngoc

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/nhung-nha-van-ao-linh-cua-quang-ninh-3350008.html