Writer Ma A Lenh – A life devoted to literature

Writer Ma A Lenh, member of the Vietnam Writers Association, was born in 1943 in Trung Chai commune, Sa Pa district (now Sa Pa town, Lao Cai province). He is one of the typical representatives of ethnic minority writers, successful in many different genres from short stories, memoirs, poems, film scripts, folk culture research and collections... He passed away on the morning of January 21 at his home, at the age of 82.

nha van ma a lenh mot doi dau dau voi van chuong hinh anh 1 — Writer Ma A Lenh.

Writer Ma A Lenh was originally a teacher. In 1978, he transferred to the Literature and Arts Association of Hoang Lien Son province (formerly). He held key positions at the Hoang Lien Son Literature and Arts Association, Lao Cai Radio and Television Station, and Lao Cai Literature and Arts Association.

He composed many different genres, including some typical works such as the story "Green Forest", the essay "Hesitating before literature", the memoir "Bustling spring road", the children's story "My village", the book "Approaching Hmong culture" and most recently the memoir "A bright sky of red cotton flowers" published in 2021. He received the Award of the Writers' Association and the Ethnic Committee, the Award of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations; Phan Xi Pang Award; Award of the Vietnam Association of Literature and Arts of Ethnic Minorities...

The man who has spent most of his life “burdened with the burden” of Mong ethnic culture is the writer Ma A Lenh. Among his close literary friends, some call him Lao Ma, Ma Tien Sinh or Ma Vuong. Some respectfully call him “Teacher Lenh” because he used to be a teacher in the highlands and has the appearance of a teacher. Some young people in the literary and poetic world affectionately call him “father”. In contact with him, I feel that “Lao Ma” is an upright, straightforward, generous, and compassionate person.

Born in the highlands, the boy Ma A Lenh suffered from a disadvantage because his mother died early. Although his father was the Chairman of the commune at that time, the family's economy was extremely difficult. The boy Lenh went to school one day, and went to the forest another day to chop wood, herd buffalo, and work in the fields... At that time, the house of Ma A Lenh and his father was located on the mountainside, below which there was a national highway. Every afternoon, the boy Lenh stood in the yard looking down at the road where cars passed by and let his soul dream of one day crossing the mountain range, setting foot in the faraway capital of Hanoi - a place he had only imagined through the pages of books.

In 1958, Ma A Lenh was admitted to the Lao Cai Mountain Children's School and then became a teacher for students in the village in the highlands of Trung Chai. Every class, Mr. Lenh always brought to the students a world of fairy tales that fascinated every student. Not only did he teach well, Mr. Lenh also guided the students to increase production, set aside land to grow vegetables, and raise chickens at the school. On weekends, the teacher and his students enthusiastically went to the forest to cut firewood to sell and earn money to help poor students...

After more than ten years of teaching, Mr. Ma A Lenh was assigned to work at the Sa Pa District Education Department, then the Lao Cai Provincial Education Department (now the Lao Cai Provincial Education Department), specializing in the highlands, and then officially devoted himself to the literary career. "Coming down the mountain" to settle down with his family in Lao Cai City, becoming a "mountainous urban resident", but his feet were busy all year round in the Mong villages in the Northwest. Sometimes he led a film crew of Vietnam Television over the mountains to Mong villages to film documentaries. Sometimes he wandered alone with a bag in hand, collecting stories in the daily life of the villagers to put into writing. Sometimes he traveled with scientists on field trips, collecting customs, practices, and cultural rituals of the Mong community to compile into the book "Approaching Hmong Culture" - a painstaking and dedicated research work of the author himself published in 2014.

Up to now, Ma A Lenh has had a considerable “fortune” of more than 30 books of various genres, from stories, memoirs, poems to research books, and books for children. He writes in both Mong and Vietnamese, with the aim of both letting his ethnic people read, contributing to integration, and also promoting his ethnic group to other ethnic groups. He worries: “This language is about to disappear. Only a few people are keeping it. Well, let’s just write, to commemorate a time…” Perhaps only those who love their ethnic group, care for their ethnic group, and understand the roots of their ethnic group like him can do that.

As a writer, Ma A Lenh always yearns for culture and the roots of his people. He diligently devotes all his energy and heart to bringing it far away. That is the duty and mission of a son of his homeland that Ma A Lenh is clearly aware of. He understands that a writer is a culturalist, so he must cultivate his own understanding of his own culture and homeland to integrate but not dissolve. In his works, Ma A Lenh delves into describing the inner world of the mountain people, in the context of changing times and in the process of approaching the civilized world. Through that, readers can easily imagine the space and very strange and unique customs of the mountain people. He has always written with all the passion and enthusiasm flowing from his heart. That fire not only warms the hearts of the Mong community through his writings but also brings to readers throughout the country a Mong cultural identity that cannot be mixed with other ethnic groups.

Source