Books by late author-journalist Bà Tùng Long, a leading female writer in the 1960-70s, have been issued by the Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House. Photo courtesy of Trẻ Publishing House
HCM CITY — Vietnamese women and family values are the themes of six books by late author and journalist Bà Tùng Long issued by the Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House.
Long was a leading female writer in South Việt Nam in the 1960s-70s. She wrote more than 400 short stories and 68 novels. Her works describe the culture and lifestyle of urban areas in the southern region.
The books include Tình Yêu Và Hận Thù (Love and Revenge), Hồng Nhan Đa Truân (Beautiful Women are Unlucky in Love), Nghĩa Tình Ràng Buộc (Love Ties), Người Của Oán Thù (A Woman’s Revenge), Một Thoáng Mây Bay (A Moment) and Hành Trang Vào Đời (The Luggage for Life ).
The stories were published in magazines before 1975 and were discovered by the writer’s son, author Nguyễn Đông Thức.
The publication celebrates the writer’s 106th birthday anniversary.
All of the publications feature Vietnamese culture, southern women and their lifestyle.
“My mother Bà Tùng Long’s works encourage women to live with self-confidence and self-belief. Her views about love, women and family issues are still fresh today,” said Thức.
In 2019, Trẻ Publishing House reprinted a series of seven books on women by Long. They have received a warm response from readers.
“Female readers, particularly young girls, can learn many things from the female characters in writer Long’s books,” Nguyễn Bảo Trân of HCM City, a fan of Long’s, said.
Trân began reading Long when she was in high school in the 1980s. She is now a mother of two teenage daughters.
Bà Tùng Long, whose real name is Lê Thị Bạch Vân, was born in Đà Nẵng in 1915.
She worked as a teacher of Vietnamese and French literature at schools in Hội An, such as Les Lauries, Tân Thịnh and Đạt Đức.
She began her writing career in 1952 after her short stories were printed in newspapers. She wrote a column on women for the daily newspaper Sài Gòn Mới (New Sài Gòn).
After 1954, she moved to live in Sài Gòn (now Hồ Chí Minh City). She wrote for several leading newspapers and magazines, including Miền Nam (The South), Phụ Nữ Diễn Đàn (Female Forum), Tiếng Vang (Echo), Phụ Nữ Ngày Mai ( Future Women) and Nhân Loại (Mankind).
During the 1960s, writing under her pen name Bà Tùng Long, she was popular in the region’s literature with her works featuring women and women’s rights.
Many of her works highlight Sài Gòn and its culture, local people and their daily life.
Long died in HCM City in 2006. VNS
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