New book on work of late poet Hoàng Cầm to be released
Writers' Association Publishing House and HC 100 project will release a new book to celebrate the 100th
HCM CITY — Poems and literary works by late writer Hoang Cầm, a leading poet in revolutionary literature during the 1950s and 1960s, will be featured in a special project called Hoang Cầm 100 Năm (Hoang Cầm - 100 Years).
The project, launched in HCM City this week, aims to celebrate the poet's life 11 years after his death. It will collect, record and release works by poet Cầm, as well as documents and articles about the artist’s life and career.
The project will help readers, cultural researchers and writers learn more about Cầm’s works. Young writers are encouraged to send their creations related to Cầm to promote the project via the email hoangcam.100years@gmail.com
“Through our project, we hope readers, authors, poets and artists in theatre, music and movies, can work together to learn about and introduce Vietnamese poetry and Cầm in particular,” said Bui Hue Chi, one of the project’s makers.
Chi is working with the artist’s family to run the project.
Cầm was born in 1922 into an intellectual family in Thuận Thanh District in the northern province of Bắc Giang.
He began writing poetry at the age of eight and his poems were first published when he was 14. He graduated from senior high school in 1940 and began his career as a writer and translator.
At the beginning of the war against the French, he joined the National Salvation Youth Union, a group of patriotic young men and women operating under the leadership of the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Viet Nam).
He joined art and literature activities to serve the resistance movement between 1944 and 1950. In 1952, he worked as the head of the Military Art & Music Troupe in Ha Noi.
He was a founding member of the Viet Nam Writers' Association in 1957. In 2007, he was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts.
His famous works include poems Ben Kia Song Đuống (The Other Side of Đuống River) and La Dieu Bong (Love Leaves), and the dramatic play Kiều Loan (Ms Kiều Loan), which highlight themes about the country, women and love.
Ben Kia Song Đuống is used in textbooks for high school students.
Kiều Loan has been adapted into plays and cheo (traditional opera) staged by leading theatres in Ha Noi and northern provinces, including the Viet Nam Drama Theatre and Ha Noi Cheo Theatre.
For his contributions, Cầm was honoured with the State Award for Literature and Arts, the highest award in Viet Nam. VNS
