To Huu in Prison, "Con Ca, Chot Nua"

From dnfox@hamilton.edu Wed Jun 22 08:06:32 2005

Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:04:44 -0400

From: "Diane Fox (dnfox)" <dnfox@hamilton.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: vsg@u.washington.edu

Subject: [Vsg] To Huu in prison, "Con Ca, Chot Nua"

In the course of doing interviews in a village near Hue, I was introduced to To Huu's poem "Con Ca, Chot Nua", which mentions a dish that is a specialty of the region--a dish that was used to try to lure him to end a hunger strike when he was in prison.

Does anyone know the circumstances of his imprisonment--even by whom, where, and for how long? The poem is in a collection "Tu Ay", which dates from 1937-1946, but that's all I know.

with thanks for any ideas,

Diane

From dduffy@email.unc.edu Wed Jun 22 08:28:31 2005

Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:28:09 -0400

From: Dan Duffy <dduffy@email.unc.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] To Huu in prison, "Con Ca, Chot Nua"

I thought To Huu wrote a memoir? Or maybe that was just To Hoai. Can't keep my dong chi can bo nha tho straight. Look in notes to Peter Zinoman's prison book?

Dan

Dan Duffy

Viet Nam Literature Project

5600 Buck Quarter Road

Hillsborough, NC 27278

tel 919-383-7274, 11 AM - 3 PM Eastern

email dduffy@email.unc.edu

www.vietnamlit.org

From sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu Wed Jun 22 12:18:13 2005

Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:17:51 -0700 (PDT)

From: Stephen Denney <sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: [Vsg] To Huu in prison, "Con Ca, Chot Nua"

I believe this might be his autobiography, available in our library here:

ME: To Huu, 1920-

TI: Nho lai mot thoi : hoi ky / To Huu

IM: [Ha Noi] : Nha xuat ban Hoi nha van, 2000

CO: 429 p., [11] leaves of plates : ill. ; 19 cm

CALL: PL4378.9.T6.Z65 2000

- Steve Denney

library assistant, U.C. Berkeley

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 23:14:29 -0100

From: Shawn McHale <mchale@gwu.edu>

Reply-To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: [Vsg] More on To Huu in prison

Diane,

Given your question about Tố Hữu:

I just stumbled across, today, the following few lines in General Trần Văn Trà's collection of essays, Gởi người đang sống (HCMC: NXB Trẻ, 1996) p. 48:

"Khi chúng [the French] đưa tôi ra Huế, vào nhà tù, đã thấy các anh Nguyễn Chí Thanh, Tố Hữu, Hoàng Anh . . . và các anh trong Đảng bộ Thừa Thiên, cả trong chi bộ của tôi cũng đang ở trong tù hết."

Perhaps that little mention might prove to be of some help in tracking down more information on his prison experience.

Good luck,

Shawn McHale

Associate Professor of History and International Affairs

Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

George Washington University

Washington, DC 20052 USA