Thai Ba Loi – A writer with the soul of a soldier
After traveling over 500km, we arrived in Da Nang as arranged with writer Thai Ba Loi. The city welcomed us with its blue sea and brilliant sunshine. Following his directions, we found a simple two-story house with a white-painted facade, sparsely covered with lush green honeysuckle vines. The man, over 80 years old, standing before me looked neat and serious, nothing like what I had imagined during the journey...
Content:Cherry ButTechnique:Hong ToaiOctober 22, 2025
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After traveling over 500km, we arrived in Da Nang as arranged with writer Thai Ba Loi. The city welcomed us with its blue sea and brilliant sunshine. Following his directions, we found a simple two-story house with a white facade, sparsely covered by lush green honeysuckle vines. The man, over 80 years old, stood before me, neat and serious, nothing like what I had imagined during the journey. But the more we talked, the more captivated we became by his stories: witty, humorous, yet rich in detail and imagery. Truly the stories of a writer.
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"I was studying medicine when I went to the battlefield."The writer Thai Ba Loi began his story with us like this. In 1965, at the age of 20, he enlisted in the army, went to the battlefield, and became a medic, the captain of a frontline surgical team. The young medic spent more than five years in the most brutal battlefields, such as Route 9 in Southern Laos, Khe Sanh, Dong Ha, and especially the fierce battle of Thua Thien Hue during the Tet Offensive of 1968.
In 1971, he was transferred to the Literature Department of the Political Bureau of Military Region V and was able to do his favorite work: writing and reporting on the front lines. The stories he recounted were not about the smoke and fire of the battlefield or the hardships and suffering, but rather possessed a unique wit that surprised those who listened.
When I asked:What do you remember most about your early days working as a war correspondent?He replied:“My first experience on the battlefield was not as a soldier, but as a writer and journalist in Que Son, Quang Nam (formerly). In that battle, our troops fought for a long time but couldn't capture the Cam Doi stronghold in Que Son. My most memorable experience was my first time working as a war correspondent, and the battle didn't end in victory.”
Life was like that, but his writing was rich in reflection and contemplation. Having fought in the most brutal battlefields, most of Thai Ba Loi's works are about war and people in war, especially soldiers. He shared that he was fortunate to be a survivor, and therefore, he felt compelled to write to repay his comrades and to help future generations better understand the historical days that so many Vietnamese people went through.
Readers first became acquainted with Thai Ba Loi through his short stories.The two men returned to the regiment.Written in 1976, at a time when Vietnamese literature was steeped in epic praise, Thai Ba Loi offered a poignant yet realistic perspective, while also serving as a warning. He pointed out that in war, not all enemies were bad, and our soldiers weren't always good. There were opportunists and cunning individuals, and these schemes became even more apparent in peacetime. His pen bravely depicted the war from a multifaceted perspective, as it truly was.
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The short story "Two People Return to the Regiment" opened the way for a series of other issues of war that later writers gradually approached. Later, writer Bao Ninh, author of the novel "The Sorrow of War," also said: Thai Ba Loi was a very courageous writer who dared to think, dared to see, and dared to write about things that people often concealed or did not want to mention when talking about the war.
Poet Nguyen Kim Huy - Chairman of the Da Nang Writers Association
Even in his later works, the nature of humanity after war remained his greatest concern. For him, war was a unique circumstance, yet it was also the place where people revealed their true nature. In Thai Ba Loi's works, people who go through war are not depicted in glory, but with all their immeasurable sacrifices and hardships, yet also with their complexities and myriad shades of light and darkness. As he wrote:“The good and the not-so-good, the traitor and the loyal, within one man who was both cowardly and courageous… They lived through days when circumstances forced them to give their all to survive.”(Excerpt:Who were they contemporaries of?He never embellished or exaggerated; he was always conscious of the need to write the truth, but also never to harm what was sacred to soldiers or to humanity.
Speaking about the literary works of writer Thai Ba Loi, writer Nguyen Quang Thieu - President of the Vietnam Writers Association - assessed:"Thai Ba Loi has delved into what literature had rarely addressed before: the fate of humanity, human aspirations, the depths of the human soul, and especially the issues that people faced and were challenged by from the war to the post-war period."
Writer Thai Ba Loi has introduced to readers 3 collections of short stories and 6 novels, published sporadically from 1978 to 2010, receiving numerous awards such as the Short Story Award of the Army Literature and Arts Magazine in 1974, the Vietnam Writers Association Award in 1983, the A Prize of the National Committee of the Union of Vietnamese Literature and Arts Associations in 2004, the B Prize of the Da Nang City Literature and Arts Award in 2004, and the State Award for Literature and Arts in 2012 for two novels.Who were they contemporaries of?andRestorationSoutheast Asian Literature Award 2013 for the novelMaster.
Born in Nghe An province, but deeply connected to the Zone V region of Quang Nam and Da Nang, the names of people, places, and cultural characteristics of the Zone V region are strongly reflected in his works. In the latter half of his writing career, he wrote novels specifically dedicated to this region, such as...Master, which tells the story of Lord Nguyen Hoang's journey to open up new lands, orThe story of Da NangThese works, written about the people of Da Nang in modern times, have helped today's younger generation better understand the deeper cultural and historical layers of this land.
But no matter where he was or what he did, he always held a deep love for Nghe An, the land that gave birth to him and nurtured him into the man he is today. His writing is truthful, simple yet profound, full of the spirit of Nghe An. When talking about Quynh Luu, about Thoi village, his hometown, the land that has produced famous writers and poets in modern Vietnamese literature, he still makes us laugh with his familiar witty way of speaking:"My feelings for my homeland are very strong, but unfortunately for me, there are so many talented writers around my village, like Bui Hien and Nguyen Minh Chau. I still haven't found a way to write differently, or better than what they have written..."
During our last conversation, he happily showed me an article from the book.Literary portraitsSoon to be published. The article perfectly captures his everyday storytelling style, witty and lively. And we eagerly await his new work, because turning each page is like sitting with him by the Han River on a Da Nang afternoon, listening to him recount the everyday stories of famous Vietnamese writers and artists.
