MY BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
I, Vinh Hao, was born in November 30, 1958 in Nha Trang city, Vietnam.
I had renounced the world to become a Buddhist monk in my childhood, and had been entrained in several buddhist schools for 20 years. Loving to write, I began to create poems and novels when I was 18 years old; but in that period, the communist government ruled the country, and my works could not be published.
From 1980 – 1984, I was trained in a special program for buddhist scholars (post-college) in Gia Lam Monastery and Van Hanh University, in Saigon, Vietnam.
Fighting against the dictatorial policies of the communists, I was arrested, and jailed in 1985, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 1987, because of a severe illness, I was temporarily released, and put under surveillance for three months. With help from friends, I fled the country before the surveillance expired and became a Vietnamese refugee of a communist regime. I settled down in the United States of America in 1988, then in less than a year, published my first work, Me, Que Huong va Nuoc Mat (Mother, Motherland, and Tears). From 1989 to 2001, another 12 works were eventually published, including the first work, they consist of six novels, four short story collections, two of essays, and a book of poems. Most of my works convey the ideas of compassion and the enlightenment of Mahayana Buddhism which is highly open minded, and actively engages in the everyday world to transform the human consciousness, as well as the structure of society. By those very ideals, I left a buddhist monk’s life, to resume as a buddhist layman and a writer since 1990.
Some of my books can be found in most of public libraries in the United States of America and Canada, in Vietnamese or Foreign section.
ACTIVITIES:
I currently live in Orange County, Southern California.
* From 1988 – present:
a) Writing and contributing with Vietnamese magazines and newspapers:
- In United States: The Ky 21, Khoi Hanh, Van, Van Hoc, Gio Van, Chan Nguyen, Phat Giao Hai Ngoai, Phat Giao Viet Nam, Pho Nho, Hoa Thinh Don Viet Bao, Chicago Thoi Bao, Nguoi Viet, Viet Bao, etc…
- In Europe: Vien Giac (Germany), Khanh Anh (France)
- In Australia: Tap Hop, Quang Duc
- In Canada: Lang Van, Di Toi, Hai Trieu Am, Phap Van, Bo De, etc …
- In Viet Nam: Bat Nha, Phap Luan
b) Guest speaker on Buddhism and Buddhist culture in several Vietnamse pagodas in the United States
* 1990 - 2000: Assistant Editor of Chan Nguyen magazine
* 1996 - 2000: Director of Phat Giao Hai Ngoai magazine
* 2000 - 2004: Director of Chan Nguyen magazine
* 2001 - present:
a) responsible for Buddhist website in Vietnamese, Buddha Home (www.buddhahome.net), to make known the teachings of Buddha and Buddhist culture
b) responsible for a literary website named “Vinh Hao’s Homepage” (www.vinhhao.net) which introduces my own poems, essays, and writings.
Also review and analyze other poems written by hundreds of recent Vietnamese poets.
c) responsible for a Vietnamese Buddhist monthly magazines named Phuong Troi Cao Rong (started in June, 2006) and Chanh Phap (started in May 2009) as Editor in Chief .