Young writers struggle to make mark in Vietnam

The life of a writer is difficult at the best of times, requiring discipline, dedication, passion and perseverance, as a number of talented young scribes have come to realise.
The life of a writer is difficult at the best of times, requiringdiscipline, dedication, passion and perseverance, as a number oftalented young scribes have come to realise.

"Eventhough I'm young and energetic, I still face many challenges in my lifeand path as a writer," said young writer Vo Thu Huong, who just releasedher latest book in Ho Chi Minh City .

Hercollection of stories, “Nu Cuoi Chim Sat”, published by the Kim DongPublishing House, hit bookstores early this month, receiving attentionfrom critics and the public.

"Young writers areoften more limited in ability but they still spend time creating workstargeting modern life, and I think they may be going the wrong way,"said Huong in a recent interview with local media.

“Nu Cuoi Chim Sat” tells the stories of the American War, a serious topic that few young authors choose to write about.

It recounts the life of a former female member of the Saigon SpecialTask Force, which played an important and historic role in the nationalliberation movement.

Although the war ended before she was born, Huong still gives it a fresh perspective.
Some extracts of her work appeared first on an online reading forum,capturing the hearts of readers. And a few days later, the book becameone of the most searched for books online.

"Passionand strength are the important things young writers need to improve,"Phan Hoang, a member of the HCM City Writers Association, said,recalling his earlier period as a professional writer.

Hoang added that his association had organised creative camps aimed at young writers.

Another young writer, Tran Nguyen Minh, known as Minh Moon, said:"Young writers need to overcome hardships in daily life to maintainsufficient involvement in writing."

Her 168-pagefictional book, “Hat Hoa Binh”, published by the Tre (Youth) PublishingHouse, came out in October and has garnered warm responses from readers.

Like Huong, Minh is keen on writing about war andhistory even though many people have told her these topics do not appealto all readers.

In her mid-twenties, Minh said that becoming a professional writer was her goal.

“Hat Hoa Binh” was chosen as one of a group of books featured during awriting competition for young readers that began last year and will endin March by Tre Publishing House.

The director ofTre Publishing House, Nguyen Minh Nhut, said the company had introducedseveral new books created by young authors like Minh, including Vo DieuThanh, Truong Anh Quoc and Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh.

"We always want to publish literature by local authors, particularly young writers, more than translated books," he said.

According to Nhut, Tre and other publishing companies have organisedseveral writing competitions for young authors and poets around thecountry.

"We received thousands of works indifferent forms, such as fiction, comics, poetry and plays, and some ofthem were of good quality," he said.-VNA

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