Introduction
Xuân Diệu, whose real name was Ngô Xuân Diệu (1916 - 1985), was born in his maternal hometown in Gò Bồi, Tùng Giản village, Phước Hòa commune, Tuy Phước district, Bình Định province. His paternal hometown was Trảo Nha village, Can Lộc district, Hà Tĩnh province. He is known as a romantic lyric poet and one of the prominent figures of modern Vietnamese poetry.
Literary career
Xuân Diệu is regarded as "the newest poet among the New poets" and a major influence in the Thơ mới (New Poetry) movement. He is widely referred to as the "King of Love Poetry". According to records, he left behind around 450 love poems, along with numerous short stories, essays, prose sketches, and literary criticism. Beyond writing, he was also an active cultural and social figure.
Legacy and commemoration
To commemorate him, the People's Committee of Tuy Phước district built the Xuân Diệu Memorial House on the site of the poet's maternal grandparents' home in Tùng Giản village, which opened in 1995. In December 2010, the Bình Định provincial People's Committee ranked the Xuân Diệu Memorial House in Gò Bồi (Tuy Phước) as a provincial-level historical relic.
After nearly 29 years of use, the memorial house deteriorated, so the Tuy Phước district People's Committee invested in building a new one on the old foundation. Construction began in April 2024 and the new memorial house was inaugurated on December 15, 2024, with a total area of up to 720 m2, of which the garden and internal walkways account for 550 m2. The project had a total investment of more than 9.8 billion VND from the district-managed state budget and other lawful sources. On this occasion, representatives of Can Lộc district (Hà Tĩnh) donated artifacts of the poet Xuân Diệu for display at the memorial house.
Key milestones
- Born in 1916 in his maternal hometown in Gò Bồi, Tuy Phước, Bình Định.
- One of the founders of the Revolutionary Press Union of Vietnam, now the Vietnam Journalists' Association.
- Left behind around 450 love poems along with numerous short stories, prose sketches, essays, and literary criticism.
- The Xuân Diệu Memorial House in Bình Định was ranked as a provincial-level historical relic in December 2010.