Nguyen Chi Thien, Hanoi Poet

Nguyen Chi Thien was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, and struggled for decades to be an honest poet in a totalitarian state. He finally settled in Santa Ana, California, where he died this week at the age of 73. The New York Times tells his stirring story.


A Vietnamese/American bilingual edition of his Flowers from Hell is currently in print.

2 Responses

  1. a vital voice/poet and story
    a vital voice/poet and story of survival in flesh, spirit and word.

    those interested in vietnamese american literature may want
    to reference an important first-of-its-kind anthol recently published:

    ‘this is all i choose to tell’
    (history and hybridity in vietnamese american literature)

    by isabelle thuy pelaud

    2011 temple university

  2. That is a great and inspiring
    That is a great and inspiring story. I can barely remember a few lines at a time…and this guy memorized entire collections! I noticed since his death the price of his book went from $80 to $650+.

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