Poet Nguyen Duc Mau was born in 1948. He enlisted in the army immediately after graduating from high school, becoming a soldier of Division 312. During the war years, his poetry collection of 4 poems sent from the front to participate in the Van Nghe Newspaper poetry contest (1972-1973) won first prize, marking a prominent starting point in his writing career.
After 1975, he returned to the North, attended Nguyen Du Writing School course I, then worked at the Military Literature and Arts Magazine as a poetry editor, then Head of the Poetry Department. He also held the position of Chairman of the Poetry Council, Vietnam Writers' Association.
In his writing career, poet Nguyen Duc Mau left behind many works in different genres. He has many notable poetry collections such as "Rain in the Burning Forest", "Storm and After the Storm", "Forest with Many Flying Flames", and epic poems such as "Squadron Epic" or "Tomb Mushrooms and Agarwood Tree".
In addition to poetry, he also composed prose with the novel "General and Soldier" and many short stories and literary criticisms, contributing to creating a rich and valuable creative career in Vietnamese literature.
He was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2001, the ASEAN Literature Award and many other awards.
In 1990, during a field trip to the northern border, moved by the sacrifices of soldiers, he composed the poem "Red Flower Color". The work was later set to music by musician Thuan Yen, spreading strongly through Thanh Lam's voice, becoming one of the songs that have stood the test of time about the theme of soldiers.
The passing of poet Nguyen Duc Mau is a loss to Vietnamese literary life, but his poems continue to live in the hearts of many generations of readers.
