Vietnamese writer’s short stories published in South Korea

Nguyen Bach, a painter and Thiep’s son, said translator Kim Joo Young had already discussed translation process and copyrights with is late father. Since the writer passed away in 2021, Bach has worked with the Korean translator on behalf of his father.

“My father had always wanted his works to be translated into different languages and introduced to foreign readers. Six copies of the book, gifted to our family by the publishing house, are on their way to Vietnam,” Nguyen Bach said.

The cover of the book in Korean. Photo courtesy of Prof. Bae Yang Soo.

According to Prof. Bae Yang Soo, head of the Faculty of Vietnamese Language at the Busan University of Foreign Languages, the 462-page book was named “Khong Co Vua” (Without a King). The title is also the name of one of the 15 stories included in the book. The translation was carried out under the auspices of the Daesan Cultural Foundation.

Writer Nguyen Huy Thiep in 2008. Photo courtesy of Nha Nam.

Stories penned by Nguyen Huy Thiep have been translated into several different languages, including French, English, German, Italian and Dutch. In 1989, the story “Tuong Ve Huu” (The General Retires) was published in Les Temps Moderness magazine.

Since 1990, the publishing house Editions de l’Aube, owned by the two writers Jean Viard and Marion Hennebert, has published Thiep’s stories many times. The Vietnamese writer was awarded the French Literature and Art Medal in 2007, and the Premio Nonino Prize of Italy in 2008.

Having published over 50 short stories, 10 plays, four novels, and numerous notable essays and critical reviews, Nguyen Huy Thiep’s prolificity has been considered “a rare phenomenon” within the Vietnam literary circle. The writer passed away in 2021 at the age of 71.