undeniable | Bùi Chát

Không thể chối từ 85x110cm Sơn dầu, Oilstick trên canvas 2023 artist: Bùi Chát

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

it can kill
turn people into killers

turn people into liars
drown people in hate

it’s as attractive. as a disguise
the eyes used to incite evil

from quietude
undeniable

K h ô n g t h ể c h ố i t ừ

Nó có thể giết chết ngươi
Biến ngươi thành thủ phạm

Nó làm ngươi trở nên dối trá
Dìm ngươi trong hận thù

Nó hấp dẫn. Như mặt nạ
Ngươi mang vào để thực thi cái ác

Nó đến trong thinh lặng
Và ngươi không thể chối từ

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

to begin a poem | Bùi Chát

Khai mạc 'Đang trôi'. Photo by Trà Cù Lủ

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

the way one would go to sleep
what could truly be
beyond the aptitude of forgetfulness
where we did once upon a time exist
to begin a poem

Để bắt đầu một bài thơ


Như cách chúng ta khởi động giấc ngủ
Điều gì đã thực sự tồn tại
Ngoài kinh nghiệm của lãng quên
Nơi chúng ta từng hiện diện
Để bắt đầu một bài thơ

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

Write | Bùi Chát

poem by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

I am writing before I put pen to paper
I am writing after I put my pen down
I stop writing when I put pen to paper
When I put pen to paper
I am thoughtful
I am full of thoughts

Viết


Tôi viết trước khi viết
Và viết sau khi viết
Trong khi viết tôi không viết
Tôi chỉ nghĩ
Chỉ nghĩ


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

the gains and the pitfalls | Bùi Chát

Lời - lỗ Acrylic, sơn dầu, oilstick.. trên canvas 115x160cm 2024 by Bùi Chát

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

as soon as it is liquid
it is a gain
though sometimes it is a pitfall

my ancestors were born in
these pits
the pits they eat
live and die in
gain was never a word in their mind

me composing a poem without a word
a poem without gain
dying nearly without a pit

living – the pitfall is the gain
poetry – the gain is the pitfall
enthusiastically: the pitfall bears the gain

L ờ i – l ỗ

Khởi thủy là lời
Nhưng có khi là lỗ

Tổ tiên tôi sinh ra
Ở lỗ
Ăn lỗ
Sống, chết trong lỗ
Chưa bao giờ biết lời

Tôi làm thơ không lời
Thơ không ăn lời
Chết không kịp lỗ

Sống – lấy lỗ làm lời
Thơ – lấy lời làm lỗ
Nhiệt liệt: lời ăn lỗ chịu

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

Present | Bùi Chát

chưa có tên, sơn dầu trên canvas, 150x195cm . Bùi Chát.

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

we alone have so many faces
mine have all taken a hold of me

my natural compulsion is to run
run again and again
run away as far as I can

to forever escape from all those faces
I have found a place to hide within you

forever within you
to embracing a new day

Hiện hữu


Có quá nhiều mặt trong một khuôn mặt
Cố bám riết lấy tôi

Theo phản xạ thông thường
Tôi bỏ chạy
Rồi lại bỏ chạy

Và để vĩnh viễn thoát khỏi những khuôn mặt
Tôi đã trốn vào em

Mãi mãi ở trong em
Ôm trọn ngày đang tới


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

BÙI CHÁT

Bùi Chát . photography by Duc Tran

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

We are being washed away, we are drifting to where Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?!

  • swine, pigs & poetry – Heo, lợn & thơ
  • to begin a poem – để bắt đầu một bài thơ
  • Mother – Mẹ
  • A footnote on a journey – Chú thích cho một cuộc đi
  • An oxymoron – Nghịch lí
  • The poem – there’s two way to handle it – Bài thơ – hai cách xử
  • A conversation with a poet about poetry – Nói với nhà thơ về thơ
  • Oneway – Một hướng
  • Ways to die – Cách chết
  • Undeniable – Không thể chối từ
  • there were six people there – Chuyện sáu người
  • mission – Sứ mệnh
  • write – Viết
  • What is poetry? – Thơ là gì?
  • Drowning – Đuối
  • face – Mặt
  • the gains and pitfalls – L ờ i – l ỗ
  • destined – vận mệnh
  • forget – Quên
  • present – Hiện hữu
  • pointless – Vô ích

Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.