Letters to My Son by Nguyễn Đức Tùng, translated by Võ Thị Như Mai, is a profound collection of insights, journeys, and wisdom—a father’s gift to his children and to all young minds stepping into the future.

Through meaningful experiences and thoughtful letters, the author shares life’s lessons, urging the next generation to embrace change, think freely, and live with courage, honesty, and joy.

“The path of humanity is forward and upward. You will live differently from us, just as we lived differently from our parents. Live wisely. Live meaningfully. In this vast universe, Earth is but a fragile speck. To keep it whole, we must care for it—today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.”

A book of love, hope, and deep contemplation—Letters to My Son is a conversation across time, reminding us of our shared responsibility to life, nature, and one another.

Nguyen Duc Tung was born in Quang Tri, Vietnam, where he attended school before continuing his studies in Hue. He is a Vietnamese-Canadian poet, literary critic, translator, and physician based in Vancouver, British Columbia. After fleeing Vietnam as a boat person, he resettled in Canada in the 1980s and graduated from McMaster University, specialising in emergency and general medicine, and completed residencies at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia.

Nguyen’s poetry, fiction, memoirs and essays have been featured in literary magazines and platforms, including Asymptote, Talawas, Da Mau (Multitude), Van Viet (Vietnamese Arts and Letters), Song Huong (Perfume River), Dien Dan The Ky (Century Forum), Van Chuong Viet (Vietnamese Literature), and Viet va Doc (Write and Read).

His published works include: 26 Contemporary Vietnamese Poets (with others, 2002), Stories on Health (2003), Where Does Poetry Come From (2010), Literary Conversations with Minh Nhuan Tran (2012), a Vietnamese translation of Alice Munro’s Dear Life (2014), Who Needs Poetry: Essays and Criticism (2015), Forty Years of Vietnamese Poetry in Exile (anthology, 2017), The Morning Poems (2023), Letters to My Son (2023), and Migrating Birds (2023). Upcoming releases include Letters to My Son (English version by Vo Thi Nhu Mai) and New Poems (in English).

Vietnamese poet, Vo Thi Nhu Mai, was born in Dalat City in 1976. She spent five years working as a high school English teacher before relocating to Australia, where she earned a graduate diploma in primary teaching, followed by a master’s degree in literature. Since 2004, she has been a dedicated primary school teacher in Perth, Western Australia.

Vo Thi Nhu Mai writes poetry as a personal passion. Her Vietnamese poetry publications include Scattered (2009), On the Other Side of the Far Away Ocean (2011), The Fairy Garden (2015), and For the Day to Be Shorter (2022). Her bilingual translation projects include The Quatrains of Covid-19 (by Vo Que, 2020), The World of Dream (by Nguyen Thanh Kim, published in Romania, 2021), The Moon Ring (by Nguyen Quang Dao, Ukiyoto), Brilliant March Sunshine (by Nguyen Quoc Hoc, 2021), The Rhythm of Poetry (by Nguyen Tan On, 2023), Dieu Tham & Me (by Vu Thuy Nhung, 2023), The Rhythm of Vietnam (an anthology of 307 poets, 2023), and Night Against the Wind (by Thu Pham, forthcoming in 2024).

She is also the founder and curator of The Rhythm of Vietnam website, where she skilfully translates, decorates and posts works by various authors daily, creating a beautifully presented platform for Vietnamese poetry and literature.