Artist writes books in Oslo

(Baonghean) -The name Le Tan Sitek has been known quite a lot in Vietnam through two works "Alone on the Road" and "Fork in the Road". Many prestigious historians, critics, writers... highly appreciate these works and respectfully call her writer Le Tan Sitek. To me, Le Tan Sitek is simply a Nghe person writing books in Oslo (Norway). Because I feel, the most precious thing about her is that even though she has been away from home for almost her entire life, her Nghe character is very strong...

1. Having received information from Nghe An Provincial Library inviting me to attend the introduction of two works by Ms. Le Tan Sitek, I paid special attention to the author's own introduction to the book Alone on the Road. She wrote:

Life, whether stormy or calm, complex or simple, always has its own rich and unique treasures. At my age of seventy today, I have lived in my fatherland for only ten years, five or six years in my birthplace in the Yangtze River region, and the rest in Europe. During that time, apart from exchanging letters with my family and relatives, I did not use my mother tongue, especially during the more than forty years I lived in Norway, where my relations with my fellow countrymen as well as with newspapers and books there were limited for objective reasons, and due to the war.

...A few years before the age of seventy, I decided to really say goodbye to my architectural career, although I loved it very much, to fulfill my long-standing wishes, which was to focus on writing books, using my life experiences as topics...

...Today, a part of that intention has taken shape through the book Alone on the Road. This is not entirely a memoir, nor is it a history book. Place names and characters are real and imaginary, with additions and subtractions.

First of all, I write for my relatives but also for people I don't know.

I write for those who are still alive and those who are gone.

I write for my homeland, the place that made me who I am today.

I write for myself, to review a period of my life that belongs to the past...".

A woman who only lived in her father's homeland for 10 years, and for over 40 years barely used her mother tongue, and yet wrote a book at the age of nearly 70, must have many things worth learning!

Ms. Le Tan Sitek at the book introduction session at Nghe An Library (April 26).

2. The Vietnamese expatriate of Nghe An origin living in Oslo - the capital of Norway has had a life full of ups and downs. Born in 1939, now 75 years old, Ms. Le Tan Sitek has lived in 4 countries: China, Vietnam, Poland and Norway. Her two parents are two "red seeds" of the Vietnamese revolution. Her father is Mr. Bui Hai Thieu, born in 1908, from Pho Dong village, Nam Cuong commune, Nam Dan district. Mr. Bui Hai Thieu went to China to study at Hoang Pho Military School, with the alias Ly Quoc Luong. Her mother is Ms. Nguyen Thi Tich, born in 1906, from Phan village (now Hung Tan commune), Hung Nguyen district, was sent by the organization to study in Laos and Thailand, at the school founded by Uncle Ho (with the alias Ly Thuy at that time). Ms. Nguyen Thi Tich often has the alias Ly Sam or Ly Phuong Thuan. Mr. Bui Hai Thieu and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tich met and built their happiness together in China and gave birth to Bui Ly Le Tan (full Vietnamese name of Mrs. Le Tan Sitek) in Hunan province. At the age of 6, Mr. Bui Hai Thieu died of illness, and Bui Ly Le Tan and her two siblings followed their mother back to Vietnam.

In 1945, her mother took her to visit her paternal hometown for the first time and then lived with her grandmother in Pho Dong village, Nam Dan district, Nghe An. In the chaos of the war, the transportation system was disrupted, Bui Ly Le Tan could not return to Hanoi to live with her mother, and so she lived in her hometown for 9 years with her grandmother and aunts and uncles. After 9 years of "losing her father and mother", when peace came to the North, Bui Ly Le Tan was able to see her mother again, but not long after, she had to say goodbye to her mother to study abroad in Poland. Because of the war and some objective reasons, she stayed in Poland, then settled in Oslo with her family instead of returning home to build the country, unable to continue the path of her parents, who were revolutionary veterans. And the storms she had to experience in life were expressed by her in the works Alone on the Road and Crossroads with the main character - the little girl An - the prototype was Le Tan Sitek.

3. Alone on the Road and Crossroads are highly appreciated by many people, including prestigious writers, critics, and historians. Historian Chuong Thau commented: "Those of us who do historical research have found many valuable and reliable documents in it, correcting many things I misunderstood. Thank you to the author for providing historical evidence that is not yet available in our country's historical records, so that we have the opportunity to formalize the names of places and names in history."

Critic Pham Xuan Nguyen wrote: "I felt really excited when following An through each page of the book. I was really moved by the process of living and learning about the life of the character An. The book also surprised me more about the Vietnamese ability of a person who has not used it for decades. The only explanation for this is: There is a Vietnamese bloodline always flowing in Le Tan Sitek". As for artist Le Huy Tiep: "Love and humanity are full in each page of Le Tan's book, this is hard to find in writers today full of thrilling plots and tricks.

Surely the younger generation who read this book will understand a time when people always cared and shared with each other. I cannot affirm that the 21st century is worse than the 20th century, but when our children read it, they will understand better the value of life at that time, a life full of human emotions...". As for writer Do Chu: "Her flesh and blood book was written not for business, to promote herself, but to find friends, to share with everyone about the country of Vietnam. Alone on the Road is not a memoir, not a novel, but this is a good work that must be listened to to understand. In Le Tan, the Vietnamese soul and Vietnamese conscience are always full."

4. To me, author Le Tan Sitek has an amazing willpower. At her age, people have almost no other aspirations besides health and family. Yet, despite being away from home for most of her life, not using the Vietnamese language for more than 40 years, she has written two books of over 1,000 pages, published by the Writers' Association Publishing House and the Youth Publishing House, and highly appreciated by readers. Why was she able to do so? Perhaps, there is only one explanation, that is, in her the essence of a Nghe An native is still intact, this has helped her always remember her roots, has urged her to write "for her relatives, for her homeland, for those who are still alive or have passed away, for herself and even for those she does not know", and this is truly the most precious thing.

I talked to her on the phone, then exchanged via email. Ms. Le Tan Sitek wrote back: Nghe An is the first place I want to introduce the book Alone on the Road, because this is a book about my childhood when I lived with my grandmother and my aunts and uncles in Pho Dong village, Nam Dan district during the resistance war against the French. Because everyone in my immediate and distant family had left the village to migrate elsewhere, and the only classmate I had a relationship with was uncontactable, so I couldn't... And she didn't hide her feelings during the book introduction on April 26: "This is the book introduction that I've been waiting for and most nervous about. Here, I almost don't know anyone, moreover, this introduction also has the second volume: Crossroads... But when I saw the enthusiasm of the Organizing Committee, and then, a few friends came from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to attend, I began to feel secure.

During the meeting, there were many figures in the cultural and historical fields as well as many scholars of many generations, writers, poets, journalists, and students participating and giving profound speeches, full of empathy, full of sincere encouragement... Those factors made me extremely happy, moved, and felt that I had been welcomed as a true Nghe person. Please let me thank everyone!

Article and photos: Nhat Lan