John Balaban

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John Balaban (born December 2, 1943)[1]is an American poet and translator, a preeminent authority on Vietnamese literature.[2]

He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He went to Vietnam with the International Volunteer Services where he taught at a university until it was bombed in the Tet Offensive. He was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel and evacuated; after his recovery , he worked to save burned and injured children from the war. He left Vietnam in 1969, but returned in 1971 to work on Ca Dao Viet Nam, a collection of poems in the Ca Dao folk tradition.[3]

In 2000 he released Spring essence, a collection of poems by Hồ Xuân Hương, an 18th century poet, the preeminent woman poet of Vietnam. The book included English translations and versions in both the current Vietnamese alphabet and the historical Chữ Nôm writing system.

Balaban has written other works that draw on his experiences in Vietnam. His anthology Locusts at the Edge of Summer: New and Selected Poems won the 1998 William Carlos Williams Award.[4] He is currently the Poet-in-Residence and Professor of English in the creative writing program of North Carolina State University.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Baughman, Ronald. Excerpt from Dictionary of Literary Biography, accessed 19 September 2007.
  2. ^ The Poetry Center at Smith College: John Balaban, accessed 19 September 2007.
  3. ^ Purdy, Gilbert Wesley (August 2003). Jacket magazine. review of Ca Dao Viet Nam, accessed 19 September 2007.
  4. ^ Interview and information from Barns & Noble, accessed 19 September 2007.
  5. ^ Faculty of English Department at North Carolina State University, accessed 19 September 2007.

[edit] External links

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