Introduction
Nguyễn Quang Sáng is a Vietnamese writer and screenwriter, widely known for the short story Chiếc lược ngà and the feature film screenplay Cánh đồng hoang. He was called "the writer of the Nam Bộ plain" by the poet Hữu Thỉnh, Chairman of the Vietnam Writers' Association, because his writing carries the breath, style and spirit of the people of Nam Bộ.
Career and activities
According to his own account in the Yearbook of the Vietnam Writers' Association, Nguyễn Quang Sáng began writing in 1952 while in the U Minh forest. In 1956, his first short story Con chim vàng was printed in Văn nghệ newspaper. He said he only had the habit of writing by hand, and that many stories were pursued by him for a decade before he put pen to paper. During his time on the battlefield, completed manuscripts were carried to Hà Nội by radio staff, thanks to which, only a week later, the people of Nam Bộ were able to hear Chiếc lược ngà over the radio waves.
He held the view that writing is tied to real experience: "I am crazy about detail. Writing without a telling detail is exactly like an editorial, isn't it". He also said he always avoided the phrase "going into reality for creative work", because one must truly live in reality to have enough material to write.
His list of prose works includes Con chim vàng, Người quê hương, Nhật ký người ở lại, Đất lửa, Chiếc lược ngà, Bông cẩm thạch, Cái áo thằng hình rơm, Mùa gió chướng, Người con đi xa, Dòng sông thơ ấu, Bàn thờ tổ của một cô đào, Tôi thích làm vua, 25 truyện ngắn, Paris - tiếng hát Trịnh Công Sơn, Con mèo của Foujita, Nhà văn về làng. For feature film and television screenplays, he has Cánh đồng hoang, Pho tượng, Cho đến bao giờ, Mùa nước nổi, Dòng sông hát, Câu nói dối đầu tiên, Thời thơ ấu, Giữa dòng, Như một huyền thoại, Con khỉ mồ côi, and the 30 episode television series Khoảnh khắc Võ Văn Kiệt.
The screenplay Cánh đồng hoang
According to the poet and screenwriter Nguyễn Thị Hồng Ngát, the screenplay Cánh đồng hoang came about from the friendship and mutual admiration of talent between Nguyễn Quang Sáng and director Hồng Sến. The film, about a small family living on a hut roof amid the waterways of Đồng Tháp Mười, became a classic of Vietnamese cinema. Ms Hồng Ngát remarked that his screenplay was "full of images", and said that although he only "darted through" cinema, he left a brilliant mark.
Life and character
Friends and colleagues describe Nguyễn Quang Sáng as someone who "works to the utmost, plays to the utmost", steeped in the character of a Nam Bộ anh Hai. He described himself as "writing for fun", but is regarded as a writer who worked seriously. Toward the end of his life, he moved to District 7, Ho Chi Minh City to live. In 2008, he took part in a journey across the Mekong Delta with a business rebuilding monkey bridges for local people. The poet Hữu Thỉnh remarked: "Reading his writing feels like coming into contact with real life, with the breath of real life".