Young author Vo Thu Huong: Happiness when finding harmony

(Baonghean) - Vo Thu Huong always surprises me with her writing ability. It feels like the flame of passion for literature, or simply put, the writing career, has never cooled down in the heart of this girl with a fragile and weak appearance.

Writing diligently is also the way Thu Huong diligently lives. Her writings do not simply bring in “income” from royalties and book fees, but they truly give Thu Huong the energy to continue, confident in a life that is still full of “rough edges” as she puts it.

A conversation with young writer Vo Thu Huong certainly shows us that clearly:

Young writer Vo Thu Huong.

- Belonging to the 8x generation but having published many books and won many literary awards, to Vo Thu Huong, what is the meaning of literature?

- Literature is currently my bread and butter. But more importantly, writing makes me find joy, confidence, and helps me balance in this rough life. Compared to her friends, Huong's number of books is not much (12 books and a few awards, but to me, awards are always just encouragement).

- Having a small child and having to take care of the child, but it seems that the life of a nursing mother is not boring or quiet, but still has time for writing. When does Huong write?

- I usually write in the morning, after my child goes to school, or late at night, early in the morning, when my child is still awake. Those are quiet enough times for me to do my own things, and most of the afternoon and evening time is for my child.

Before, I was not very "disciplined", I wrote whenever I felt like it, and indulged myself with the thought that, writing must be inspired to write. But then, some seniors shared that, to be professional, there can be no such thing as "spontaneity". A close friend who also had a "diaper" said that she spent all her evenings playing with her child, being friends with her child. She never "stole" her child's time for work, no matter how much she loved her job. Even her child said, "Oh mom, why aren't you like Linh's mother? When I go to her house, I see her mother working instead of always playing with her child like you do." If you don't work, where will you get the money to raise your child?

I thought about those reasonable things and found that I had to arrange myself accordingly. Writing and reporting are just jobs.

- What topic does Huong usually pay the most attention to in her work?

- Children's literature is the topic that I have pursued the longest. Of my 11 published books, 8 are children's books. In January 2017, I will also publish another children's book - the short story collection "The Gift of the Mountain God". I always feel confident in exploiting children's age, simply because I have had many experiences, from when I was a child and now as a mother of children.

Vo Thu Huong with poet Tran Dang Khoa.

In addition, I have written a number of books about Saigon commandos, heroes who were once symbols of youth, such as Professor Le Quang Vinh, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Le Thi Thu Nguyet... but mainly about the characters' adolescence and youth. I also have a few collections of short stories and novels for adults - stories about fate and love - especially for women. Sometimes, simply a beautiful story that moves me is also a topic that I am interested in and want to share with my readers.

- Women who are “stuck” in literature often “suffer” because they are too romantic. Is this true for Huong?

- The day Huong started to practice writing, my mother told me that she wanted me to grow up to be a teacher, and to write for fun whenever I wanted. My aunt wrote down two lines of poetry in her notebook: "My mother's eyes are wet, advising me not to practice being a poet/ My daughter's life is so miserable" (poem by Binh Nguyen Trang). It was because my mother witnessed many literary and artistic figures around her having difficult lives.

It seems that, when I was growing up, I saw my mother working hard at all kinds of jobs, from collecting scrap, selling coal, shelling peanuts for hire... to raise my children, so in the end I found it simple, literature and words were just... a job, much less difficult than my mother's job. I am not a very romantic person, just a little bit sentimental, enough to see my life as soft and comfortable... All of that sounds unreasonable, but it is a gradual absorption of positive things that makes me not "suffer" because of literature.

Vo Thu Huong in a talk with journalism students of the Military University of Culture and Arts.

- Was your husband your first reader?

- No. My husband has never read any of my books. He likes history and economics books, not literature. But luckily, he can share his wife's questions, including how to develop an idea in a work (when it is still in draft form).

- Does family life "rob" you of much of the time you could have spent on your passion for writing?

- I think saying no is not right, but saying yes is not quite right either. Because no mother can be both good at public affairs and good at housework. A journalist - my former boss said this, if you achieve that title, understand it as encouragement. And to spend more time writing, and still be able to take care of my children, I choose to work freelance.

- People often say that if life is too happy, it will be difficult to have good works. What about Vo Thu Huong?

- Huong’s life is similar to other mothers with babies, she is content with herself, doing what she loves, sharing with her husband, and her young children sometimes bring comfort, sometimes bring… chaos to the mother. I don’t think a good work depends on happiness or suffering, wealth or poverty, but on talent, emotions, experiences and the effort to learn and overcome oneself. Honestly, this is the “formula” I am still trying to implement to have the next work that makes readers more satisfied than the previous one.

- Can you reveal a little about the work you are about to release?

- Huong is about to release two short story collections. The short story collection Crossing a River (Hoi Nha Van Publishing House) published by Alphabook, for adults, and The Gift of the Mountain God (published by FirstNews), for children. Both will be on the shelves this Tet holiday.

Some stories by Vo Thu Huong.

Across a River (Hoi Nha Van Publishing House) is a story about fate and love. Most of the stories are less happy and more sad, but leave a sweet aftertaste. And The Gift of the Mountain God is a collection of short stories with stories like clear eyes looking into the world of children. I think adults need to share both joy and sadness, but children just need a clear world.

- In literature, did Huong meet like-minded readers like Ba Nha - Tu Ky?

- To the extent that Ba Nha - Tu Ky is the dream of any writer, in this era it is sometimes rare. But I still always have unexpected joys from my readers. When Huong was in high school, she often kept an eye on a boyfriend. Not because she liked him, just because he was handsome, originally a good student but failed the high school entrance exam to study at a private school. In the eyes of many young girls at that time, he was attractive because of his indifferent appearance (he smoked outside the school gate, even got into fights and scratched his face, sometimes... had a cast). Meanwhile, I always regretted thinking, you are smart, why did you choose such a cruel path for yourself?

After a long time, I recently found you on Facebook. You are a reader of Huong. You said you like the love stories I write, gentle but very touching. You don’t like heavy, philosophical things… I’m only interested in how you went through your frivolous youth, and I’m happy to know that you are now a manager in an industrial park.

Participate in the program Young Literature - Appearance and Aspiration of HTV9.

There was also a time when, after reading a short story of mine published in Thanh Nien newspaper, a reader wrote to say that his story was as touching as mine, and wished that I could come to tell him the story, because he was too old to go. To me, that simple thing was also very precious.

Writing is a job with many “privileges”, the biggest of which is probably finding common ground. Besides finding common ground with like-minded people, I also really enjoy finding common ground with people who are different from me.

- Tell me about mother Vo Thu Huong, how is she, in the eyes of her two children?

- Huong has a super naughty boy named Dom. Of course, in his eyes, Huong's mother is sometimes gentle, sometimes... super fierce. She has to be super fierce to control the super naughty. And the super cute girl named Bong. She is a cute girl, likes to argue, likes to play with her mother and is at the age where she considers her mother the whole sky, so her mother always has to try to live well so that she doesn't "fall from her idol". Just kidding, but being the mother of those two is the most meaningful thing to me right now.

- What makes happiness, for Huong?

Vo Thu Huong and a little girl named Bong.

- Happiness with a person who is easygoing and a little cheesy is not too hard to find. A beautiful melody, a little bit of your favorite essential oil when you sit down to write or read a book is already happiness. A healthy, obedient child to hold your hand on the plane, train back to your hometown or to a blue sea, white sand or a quiet garden at a friend's house is already happiness... Something like that.

- How did Huong's childhood affect writer Vo Thu Huong today?

- Huong's childhood was quite difficult compared to her peers, because her father went to work abroad and failed in business, and her mother had to retire early at the age of 41 because her agency reduced its staff. And because of circumstances, my family moved many times, from a tiny house to a small house in Trung Do collective housing area to Quang Trung...

Starting when my mother retired, she made a living by doing jobs like collecting bottles, loading coal, shelling peanuts for hire... I followed my mother throughout that journey. Even now, after more than ten years, my hands that have been typing on the computer all year round are still stiff, rough, and dry from growing up with the jobs of stacking and loading coal. There were years when my mother gave birth to my younger sister, and it was so hard that she sent me to Do Luong to be raised by my grandparents, and to Anh Son to be raised by my aunt. That was the period when I struggled in the fields, following my grandmother to pick up peanuts and potatoes because there was no one at home to look after me.

But the biggest luck is that my mother always values ​​my studies and my interests. When she went to collect scrap, she could still find my books Daghestan, Let That Day Fades... and bring them back for me to read. My mother said that my father's business was really bad, but before he failed, he found a house for us in Quang Trung. That house was small, but my mother was always proud and loved it because she gave her children more opportunities to develop when it was close to the school, close to the Ten-le-man Children's House... My mother gave me many positive and practical thoughts when looking at things like that. Honestly, until now, I still think that many people are like me, growing up from hardship, and the positive thing is that thanks to that, I am tough enough to mature, experienced enough to pursue a writing career...

PV

(Perform)