Nam Cao
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| Tran Huu Tri | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 29, 1915 Ha Nam province |
| Died | November 30, 1951 (aged 36) Ninh Binh province |
| Pen name | Nam Cao, Thúy Rư, Xuân Du, Nguyệt, Nhiêu Khê etc. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Vietnam |
| Writing period | 1941- 1951 |
| Notable work(s) | Chi Pheo (1941) |
Tran Huu Tri (1915-1951), commonly known by his pseudonym Nam Cao, was an eminent Vietnamese short-story writer and novelist. His works generally received high acclaims from critics for their thoughtful description and veracious reflection of the society in the 1945 era. As a member of the Cultural Association for National Liberation led by the Communist Party, he was frequently sent to various places to do missions. On November 1951, he was ambushed and killed on the way to Lien Khu III, Ninh Binh before his intention of writing a novel about his country and the revolution was ever met.
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[edit] Biography
Nam Cao was born in October 29, 1915 to a poor farming family in Ly Nhan district, Ha Nam province. He was the only child in the family who received a full education. After finishing high school, he headed to Saigon working as a clerk in a tailor’s; his first works were written during this time. Not long after that, he worked as a teacher at Cong Thanh, a private school in Hanoi, aiming at cultivating knowledge and experience to nourish his writing career. However, as Japan sent the military troops to the area, the school was soon closed to be used as a barn for Japanese soldiers, resulting in his unemployment. He lived an arduous life, making both ends meet by home tutoring and writing for some newspapers until 1943 when he became a member of the Cultural Association for National Liberation, a position made him become the target of constant persecution. Aware of the danger, he came back to his hometown and joined the armed forces responsible for overthrowing the then administration. At the same time, he was elected the first president of Li Nhan district. However, he left the post after a few months and was dispatched to several areas around the country from 1946 to 1951, then working as an editor for Cuu quoc and Van nghe newspapers in Viet Bac. Many of his works were written during this time, notably including The eyes (1950), diary In the forest (1948), memoir Story at the frontier (1948), which won extensive praise. He died on November 30, 1951 in a mission in Ninh Binh province at age 36 .
He has five children, one of them died in the Vietnamese Famine of 1945.
[edit] Writing career
Nam Cao was often referred to as one of the most prominent short-story writer in Vietnamese literature. In fact, his works became widely known only after the birth of the short story “Chi Pheo” in 1941, which reaches the zenith of success in his writing career.
Prior to the August Revolution, his works often focused on two main themes: the life of the impoverished lower middle-class intellects and the destitute life of the farmers in rural areas during the war. Through these stories he successfully depicted the plight of miserable people in the society with unfeigned vivid words and flexible descriptions. He specifically concentrated on the lingering distressful tragedies of their inner souls, indirectly brought forward the prevailing social problems of his period.
[edit] Works
[edit] Stage play
- Contribution (1951)
[edit] Novels
- A neighbor’s story (1944)
- Corroded life (1944)
- Other four lost manuscripts: The bowl, A person’s life, The temple, Flooded day.
[edit] Short stories
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[edit] External links
- Nam Cao's biography (Vietnamese)
- Short biography and notable works (Vietnamese)
