He was a founder of Tự Lực Văn Đoàn and worked as a journalist, critic and editor for the newspapers Phong Hóa and Ngày Nay.

In 1929 he attended Indochina College of Art in Hanoi, but left after one year due to disappointment with a professor and the school's management.

In 1934 he joined fellow writers in the foundation of Tự Lực Văn Đoàn, a left-wing literary association.

Thế Lữ claimed to live only for arts and literature, hence declined to join Nguyễn Tường Tam, a Tự Lực Văn Đoàn fellow, when the latter was the head of Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng.

However, after the August Revolution, he became a supporter of Ho Chi Minh and refused to meet Nguyễn Tường Tam.

[5][6] From the 1960s Thế Lữ stopped acting and directing (even though he still worked as an organizer), to translate foreign dramas, and consulted and encouraged new actors and directors.

He retired in 1977, then moved to Ho Chi Minh City to live with his first wife and children in 1979.

His poems reveal his love of beauty in sound and scenery,[1] and contains many references to immortal realms, animals, etc.

[1][9] For this reason, he often used "bridging", commonly found in French poetry that binds the verses into a circuit.

[11] His more mystery oriented works featured a recurring detective named Lê Phong.

[5][14] In 1946, Thế Lữ wrote the lyrics to "Xuân và tuổi trẻ" in memory of its composer La Hối, who was executed by the Japanese the previous year.