HÀN MẶC TỬ

Hàn Mặc Tử [1912 – 1940] real name Nguyễn Trọng Trí, Christian name is Peter Phanxico, also has pen names Le Thanh, Phong Tran, Minh Due Thi. He was born in Le My village, Dong Loc district, Dong Hoi province (now Quang Binh) in a poor Catholic family, his father died early. As a child, he lived and attended primary school in Quy Nhon, attended high school in Hue, then worked at the Land Survey Department, was fired due to illness. In 1934-1935, he followed Thuc Te to Saigon to work as a journalist (wrote for Cong Luan newspaper, was in charge of the Saigon newspaper’s literary page), then returned to Quy Nhon. In 1936, he contracted leprosy, had to go to Quy Nhon hospital and died there.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the blogger, poet, and translator, was born in 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.