Family of Fallen Leaves: Stories of Agent Orange by Vietnamese Writers

Contributors

฀ 173฀ contributors hoang฀minh฀tuong:“grace”฀and฀“the฀story฀of฀a฀family” Hoang Minh Tuong was born in 1948 in Dong Phi village, Ung Hoa District, Ha Dong Province. He graduated from the Faculty of Geography, Hanoi University, and began work as a teacher and journalist. At present, he is the vice director of the Creative Writing Department of the Vietnamese Writer’s Union. HisseveralnovelsincludetheWriter’sUnionPrizewinnersSomeone Walking along the Different Road and Water, Fire and Gangsters, as well as The Hard Wind which Follows the Storm, An Illegitimate Child, A Beautiful Lady, and the controversial novel on the 1960s land reform, The Days of Saints and Gods. ma฀van฀khang:฀“a฀child,฀a฀man”฀and฀“thay฀phung” Ma Van Khang, one of the most eminent and famous writers of Vietnam, was born in 1936 in Hanoi. As a teenager, he joined the People’s Army of Vietnam to fight in the resistance war against the French. He is a graduate in literature from Hanoi Pedagogical University and was the headmaster of a high school in Lao Cai Province. In 1975, he became editor-in-chief of the Labor Publishing House and Foreign Literature Review. His publications include many novels: The Summer Rain, The Season of Fallen Leaves in the Garden, The Wedding without Marriage Certificate, The Orphans in aSelfishCommunity,AgainsttheFlood,andALonelyPersonDriving a Lonely Horse. He has published some two hundred short stories, of which many have been anthologized and translated into Russian, English, German, Japanese, and Swedish. In 1998 he was a winner of the asean’s Literary Prize. 174฀ contributors minh฀chuyen:฀“a฀father฀and฀his฀children”฀and฀ ฀ “le฀cao฀dai฀and฀the฀agent฀orange฀sufferers” Minh Chuyen was born in 1948 in Minh Khai Commune, Vu Thu District, Thai Binh Province. During the Vietnam War, he joined thearmyandfoughtalongtheCambodianborderformorethanten years.Nowheworksasascriptwriteranddocumentaryfilmdirector forthevtv network.AsaveteranwhofoughtintheAmericanWar for many years, most of his nonfiction essays are on the war and, in particular, on the life and suffering of the many veterans and their families affected by Agent Orange. His literary works include short story collections such as The Native Land of the Soldier and The Woman He Met in his Dream and many nonfiction collections such as A Wanderer Who Doesn’t Feel Lonely, The Aftereffects of the War, The Consternation, Vietnam in the Postwar Period, and The Soul and the Heart of Agent Orange’s Sufferers. Minh Chuyen was a winner of many prizes for literature and televisiondocumentaries,includingseveralprizesfrominternational television festivals. nguyen฀quang฀lap:฀“the฀goat฀horn฀bell” Nguyen Quang Lap was born in 1956 in Quang Binh and has published many plays, literary essays, and books, including The Call of Sunset, Black and White Lives, and The Life of Sand. At present, he is an editor at the Kim Dong Publishing House. nguyen฀thi฀ngoc฀ha:฀“the฀spirit฀pond” Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha was born in 1949 in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi. After graduating from the Hanoi Commercial College, she joined the facultythereand at thesametime wasanemployeeofthe Hanoi import-export company Intimex. In 1990, she retired from the collegeandthecompanyandnowconcentratesonwritingpoetry ,short contributors฀ 175฀ stories, and nonfiction. Her publications include several collections of poetry published by the Writer’s Union Publishing House and Hanoi Literature and Art Publishing House. Many of her short stories and essays were published by the prestigious Literature and Art magazine. She has won several literary prizes awarded by the Literature and Art Weekly. phan฀ngoc฀tien:฀“a฀dream” Phan Ngoc Tien was born in Hanoi in 1956. He joined the People’s Army in 1972 and fought along the Cambodian border before joining the Ho Chi Minh campaign from 1974 to 1975. Now he is a scriptwriter and film editor at the vtv network. His works include a collection of short stories on the American War,They Become Real Men, that won the Writer’s Union prize in 1994, as well as Black Ashes and Red Dots, Waiting for the Sun, The Little Creature, and Native Village. suong฀nguyet฀minh:฀“thirteen฀harbors” Suong Nguyet Minh was born in 1958 in Yen My village, Yen Mo District, Ninh Binh Province. He joined the army in 1977 and was a member of the forces who fought along the Cambodian border beforebattlingintotheinteriorandoverthrowingtheKhmerRouge. Since then, he has attained the rank of colonel and now works as an editor of People’s Army Literature and Arts magazine. He is a graduate of the Land Forces Officers’ training school and the Faculty...