Khai Don's first foray into short stories

Having made a name for himself with many works in various genres such as essays, memoirs, and travelogues, Khai Don (Pham Lan Phuong) recently surprised everyone when he returned to the literary world with his first collection of short stories, 'The puppet sings in the distant forest'.

This is considered a bold move in Khai Don's creative journey with the short story genre - a form rich in experimentation. Although it was her first time, she did not choose to take a safe step but instead ventured into a realm that was both vague and overwhelming - where people, nature and souls drifted together like formless mist.

The short story collection The Puppet Sings in the Distant Forest published by Nha Nam and the Writers Association Publishing House

PHOTO: Publisher

More than just a collection of short stories, The Puppet Sings in the Distant Forest is like a storytelling ritual. The stories in the book do not follow a linear narrative but are like fragments falling from the mind – sometimes dreamy, sometimes fierce, sometimes as desolate as an unfinished dream.

Some stories are pictures of a dry and cold urban area, some are the wild echoes of nature being destroyed, and some are painful slices of the soul facing silent cracks.

The 14 short stories in this collection are 14 "dream doors", where reality is bent by the fierce imagination and the cold beauty of the natural world . What Khai Don writes is not only about people, but also evokes the forgotten parts of them - the hidden darkness, the wild desire, the broken souls that have not been named. Sometimes it is an ancient spirit in human form, sometimes it is a voice echoing from the past so far away that it is unclear whether it is a human voice or the sound of wind through the forest.

According to Professor Chung Hoang Chuong: "Through unusual stories, Khai Don draws readers into situations that use imagination to visualize nature, where humans and the environment blend together. The everyday stories, social frameworks with details that have never been developed before will be a very unique journey."

With a powerful, uncompromising pen that is always on the verge of breaking, threatening the reader with a sense of disorientation, Khai Don has created a captivating story space. There is no main character, no typical plot, only drifting creatures and a growing confusion.

Each story is a dance of "puppets" with no one controlling them, and their songs ring out like calls from the deepest place of loneliness.

The puppet singing in the distant forest does not try to answer the question "who are we?" but opens a series of thoughts: what is human identity, what has it been, and where have the wildest parts of us fallen into the midst of a life that is too crowded?

Not only does the book stop at the text, it also creates a visual journey thanks to the illustrations by writer and artist Nguyen Truong Quy. The simple yet haunting drawings expand the reader’s imagination, creating a storytelling space where images and words coexist.

Khai Don (real name: Pham Lan Phuong) is a journalist and writer, writing in both Vietnamese and English. She is the author of many outstanding books in the genres of memoirs, essays, travelogues, and recently short stories.

Khai Don won the Virginia de Araujo Prize for poetry awarded by The Academy of American Poets in 2021 and 2022. Her works often explore personal psychological depth, loneliness, identity, memory, and the sense of migration.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khai-don-lan-dau-cham-ngo-truyen-ngan-185250627094505152.htm