Farewell to poet Thach Quy - a typical figure of Nghe An

Poet Thach Quy. Photo: Quoc Khanh

Poet Thach Quy's real name is Vuong Dinh Huan, born on August 8, 1941 in Dong Bich village, Thuan Trung commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province, now Dong Bich village, Trung Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province.

His father was proficient in Chinese, his mother, although illiterate, was familiar with many folk songs, proverbs, and the Tale of Kieu... In 1960, he studied Mathematics Pedagogy at Vinh University. After graduating from university, he worked for a time as a high school Math teacher in Nghe An; then worked at the Nghe An Literature and Arts Association. He is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association. He was trained at the Nguyen Du Writing School; the Gorky Writing School (former Soviet Union).

In 1967, he published his first collection of poems: “Stars and Earth”. Next were “The Rock and the Tree Branch” (1973), “The Song of Life and Earth” (1978), “The Origin of the Rain” (1978), “The Ta Tat Bird” (1986), “In the End, Still Alone” (1986), “Christmas Eve” (1990); “The Wall” (2009), “The Diver” (2018), “Thach Quy’s Poetry Collection” (2018)…

Poet Thach Quy has many years of dedication and is recognized with the Medal for the Cause of Vietnamese Literature and Arts and many noble Literature and Arts awards awarded by the Central and local levels: Third Prize in the Literature and Arts Newspaper Poetry Contest in 1973; A Prize from the National Literature and Arts Association in 2006; A Prize, Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award for the 3rd time; B Prize, Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award for the 4th time (2005 - 2010 period); A Prize, Ho Xuan Huong Literature and Arts Award for the 6th time, 2015 - 2020 period.

Regarding the pen name Thach Quy, he once shared in an interview published in Nghe An Newspaper: “In my hometown, there is a small, humble Quy mountain that not many people know about. If it were Hong Linh mountain, or Thai Son mountain, or Fansipan peak, for example, then I certainly would not dare to use the names of those great, majestic mountains to name my pen name. As mentioned above, I love rocks very much. My childhood was spent herding buffaloes and collecting firewood, and I was always surrounded by rocks and mountains. I also compare myself to a rock of that small mountain. The name Thach Quy is also humble and simple like that. Nothing special, nothing worth paying attention to.”

Poet Thach Quy is the author of the famous poem “With Children”, published in the Literature and Arts newspaper of the Vietnam Writers Association, issue 1 June 1979. At the end of 1980, Nhan Dan newspaper reprinted the poem “With Children” with photos and biography of the author. The poem is highly appreciated by many poetry lovers.

In 1988, Thach Quy was voted by the Vietnam Writers Association as one of 10 outstanding writers sent to the Soviet Union to study at the invitation of the Soviet Writers Association.

The man who considered himself humble and ordinary, “nothing special, nothing worth noticing”, but left behind a great poetic legacy. I respectfully bow my head to bid farewell to poet Thach Quy - a typical intellectual of Nghe An.

PV