(VOVWORLD) - Writer Vu Tu Nam, former secretary of the Vietnam Writers’ Association, has passed away at the age of 92. During his career, he worked as a writer, a poet, a journalist and served as a National Assembly deputy.
 Writer Vu Tu Nam and his wife. |
Writer Vu Tu Nam, whose real name was Vu Tien Nam, was born in 1929 in the northern province of Nam Dinh. As a child, Nam attended the French-Vietnamese Primary School in Hoa Binh province, then continued higher education in Hanoi.
He joined the army in 1947 and was assigned to the Chien sy (Soldier) newspaper and then the Quan doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper in 1950. He was one of the first editors of the Van Nghe Quan doi (Military Arts) journal. In 1958, he began working for the Van hoc (Literature) newspaper of the Vietnam Writers’ Association.
He soon took over other important positions, including editor of the Literature newspaper, deputy editor-in-chief of the Van nghe (Arts) newspaper, and director of the Tac Pham Moi (New Works) Publishing House.
Vu Huy, Vu Tu Nam’s son, said, “My father was one of the first members of the executive committee of the Vietnam’s Writers Association, and worked as secretary of the Vietnam Writers’ Association. In his writing, he integrated the classical and new style of writing, bringing his literary work to life in a flexible way”.
Nam’s notable works include Ben Duong 12 (On the Road 12), Que Huong (Homeland), Ngay Xuan (Spring Day) and Hoi Uc Tinh Yeu (Memories of Love).
Vu Tu Nam’s wife, writer Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, said, “My husband wrote 'On the Road 12' while he was stationed in Ninh Binh province. That won him the State Prize in Literature and Arts in 2001. His book 'Memories of Love' was published by the Labor Publishing House. The book includes nearly 250 love letters we wrote to each other from 1950 to 1968. Writer Vu Tu Nam was admired by many readers for his talent and kindness”.
Vu Tu Nam wrote many stories for children. In 1963, he published the popular story Van Ngan Tuong Cong (Van Ngan the Duck General), which was translated into Russian by Soviet writer Marian Tkachov and published in the Soviet Union.
“My father was in regular contact with many other writers, like Ma Van Khang and Nguyen Huy Thiep. He set up a library in my hometown. He encouraged us to read books. From an early age, I read literary works like War and Peace by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy,” said Vu Huy.
Vu Tu Nam was elected to the National Assembly for the 1992-1997 tenure.