Le Vi Thuy: A polyphonic harmony between poetry and story

(GLO)- With 3 poetry collections and 4 short story collections, Le Vi Thuy brings to readers a polyphonic harmony between poetry and stories. She is considered to have a new poetic voice, clearly showing the responsibility of the writer to the land she lives in when bringing the Central Highlands material into her work.

Warm sad melody poetry

Poet Le Vi Thuy (born 1984, Hoi Phu ward, Gia Lai province) is a member of the Gia Lai Literature and Arts Association, the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association of Ethnic Minorities, and the Vietnam Writers Association. Her main job is a teacher at Luong Thanh Primary School, Thong Nhat ward.

Poet Le Vi Thuy. Photo: TH

The first collection of poems “Broken Eyes Without Shadows” (The Writers Association Publishing House, 2012) includes 45 poems expressing Le Vi Thuy’s multi-dimensional view of colorful life. In the poem that is the title of the collection, loss is like the main flow of poetry: “the windows opened from yesterday/today & tomorrow/in the space of beginning and ending/the signature is not a witness of love/the vow passes through the bottomless void/broken eyes/where to find the shadow of happiness/the windows are still open halfway up the slope/the wind on the hill’s back”.

The same heart, when compressed into the song "Zero", is: "Life spirals/the beginning is a vicious circle in the end/old pebbles sob like young raindrops/drops of shape cling to gray clouds/yellow kneels and stirs the crowd/on the market wharf, lonely human life/turns silently".

After 8 years, the second collection of poems and the third book "The Day the Seeds Spread Fragrance" (Writers' Association Publishing House, 2020) is a profound experience of the life of a soul in its prime, imbued with hope and personal joy. About this collection of poems, poet Dao An Duyen commented: "In The Day the Seeds Spread Fragrance, Le Vi Thuy mainly uses free verse, breaking the rules in both tone and language. Thuy's poetry is selective of readers, not everyone who reads it can immediately understand what she wants to say. Her arrangement of words is intentional, with clear artistic intentions. She is professional from the book cover to the way she divides the content layout. I appreciate Le Vi Thuy for her serious work with words, always exploring, creating and not being afraid to experiment."

Works of poet Le Vi Thuy. Photo: TH

In the collection “The Wind Leans Against the Direction” (Writers Association Publishing House, 2023), readers will feel the author’s poetic voice full of narrative about his own fate and life. In the poem, Le Vi Thuy expressed: “I lift myself up/among the hanging words without beginning or end/broken/the harder I try, the more they break/I string my tears into a necklace/running towards the sun” (Fantasy Crossroads) and lit up bright views of life: “The day the street changes seasons/the sound of children playing and chirping/new shirts still intact/flirting like flower petals on the street/bustling smiles in tight masks/after days of social distancing” (The day the street changes seasons).

Slow motion film of life

Along with poetry, Le Vi Thuy has also published 4 collections of short stories including: "Drifting Night Dew" (People's Army Publishing House, 2015), "Windy Forest" (Literature Publishing House, 2021), "Moon Hanging on the Mountain Top" (Hong Duc Publishing House, 2023), "Border Mist" (Hong Duc Publishing House, 2025).

With a genuine writing style and rich use of language, she brings the material of life of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands into each page of writing. The Central Highlands in her works is colorful, rich in culture, both full of the sounds of life and vaguely magical and dreamy, urging readers to want to touch it once.

Poet Le Vi Thuy (left) shares with the author about the writing process. Photo: TB

Spending time reading all 11 stories in the collection “Windy Forest”, readers will have a multi-dimensional view of the misty highlands through many characters in emotional situations with a lot of thoughts and worries. As for the collection “Moon hanging on the mountain top”, besides depicting the personal feelings of the characters in “Singing woman”, “Home story”, “Going against wind”… with a deliberately realistic description, Le Vi Thuy has brought the Central Highlands closer to readers through a number of stories such as: “Moon hanging on the mountain top”, “Through rainy days”, “Pho Bui Hong”.

Through her short stories, she wants to convey her thoughts, feelings and responsibilities as a writer to the land that nurtures and helps her dreams grow further.

Commenting on Le Vi Thuy's writings, Vice President of Gia Lai Province Literature and Arts Association Ngo Thi Thanh Van affirmed: "Le Vi Thuy is reaching maturity in each page of writing. Recently, Thuy has invested a lot in prose with short stories that are profound and show exploration and contemplation. The magical elements, the real and the unreal in some short stories are effectively exploited. Besides, Thuy also researched and experimented quite skillfully on the topic of ethnic minorities with cultural sediments rich in identity. This is a difficult topic, not everyone can write successfully."

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/le-vi-thuy-ban-hoa-am-da-thanh-sac-giua-tho-va-truyen-post562629.html