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| Author Ly Thang Long was honored to receive the 2025 Cricket Aspiration Award. Photo: NVCC |
The award is organized annually by the Sports and Culture Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency) to honor outstanding literary and artistic works written by or for children.
* How do you feel about winning the Cricket Aspiration Award 2025? What does this award mean to a young person on the creative path like you?
- When my name was called at the Cricket Aspiration Award, I felt very excited and happy because I had contributed to children's literature. The award is not only a recognition of my personal efforts, but also a great motivation, an important milestone marking my maturity to continue my path of artistic creation.
* Can you share the inspiration or the starting moment for the manuscript of There's a Flat Earth in Your Eyes? What inspired you to write?
- I completed the manuscript while performing my military service at the Provincial Military Command. During that time, I learned about the award launch and pondered how I should write for children. From the nights standing guard, to the training along the march…, all urged me to write, write with passion, with love for children.
* The title There is a Flat Earth in Your Eyes is both strange and evocative. If you were to choose the most representative poem to introduce this manuscript, which one would you choose? Why?
- It is very difficult for me to choose a typical work in this manuscript. The collection of poems consists of 26 poems, each poem is like a piece in a colorful picture of childhood, not elaborate, but profound enough to make even adults pause and ponder. However, if I were to choose my favorite poem, I would choose the last poem called I Wrap Up to Send You: “I wrap up to send you this youth/ The rosy years and months like floating clouds… I wrap it all up for everything/ Wrap it all up in my heart to send to you/ Wrap it up so that the bell will ring forever/ Tomorrow you will open it/ The sky will be calm/ The way home”.
* As an engineer with a university degree in engineering and a soldier, what made you turn to the "realm" of literature, which is rich in emotions and somewhat soft?
- Since I was a child, I have written poetry. I often read Huynh Van Nghe's poems, nurturing my passion. When I chose to enter the military environment to train, I thought that the writers and poets who came before them also came from the military environment. As a young person, as a young writer, there is no reason not to perform military service. This environment trains me in discipline and perseverance, which greatly supports my writing. At the same time, my experiences in the military also give me a lot of inspiration to write.
Author LY THANG LONG was born in 2000, in Bien Hoa city. Graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, in 2024, he volunteered to join the military service, currently a soldier of the Information Company, Provincial Military Command. In addition to the Cricket Aspiration Award, he won first prize in the poetry category of the Literary and Artistic Composition Contest on the theme of Portrait of a Dong Nai Soldier in 2024.
* From the short story collection How Strange Puberty to the manuscript There's a Flat Earth in Your Eyes, how has Ly Thang Long's writing journey changed in terms of tone, subject matter, and perspective?
- At first, I wrote with the innocent emotions of adolescence. Gradually, life experiences helped me gain a deeper, more mature and thoughtful perspective. In the short story collection Puberty is so strange, I was ordered by Kim Dong Publishing House. In the manuscript There is a flat earth in your eyes, I freely created, flew freely, comfortably and only wrote for children. Children today are very smart, and I want to change the way I write so that poetry is close and attractive to them.
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| Author Ly Thang Long next to his family's bookshelf - the inspiration for his new work. Photo: L.Na |
* Having participated in the Dong Nai Literature and Arts Association early on, what made you attached to the local literary and artistic life? Do you have any special memories with your fellow writers in the association?
- I joined the association when I was a teenager, attending a writing camp in Can Tho. Thanks to the guidance and encouragement from the writers and poets in the association, I increasingly understood the meaning of holding a pen and was determined to pursue a writing career.
* After this award, has Ly Thang Long thought about his next work? Will his upcoming literature continue to be poetry, short stories or try new genres?
- Before I joined the army, I had planned to write a novel. And now, the manuscript of this novel is still being written. This is a novel related to the virtual world, promising to be very interesting, bringing a new perspective to readers.
* As a young person pursuing a literary career, what message does Ly Thang Long have for young writers?
- As a young person who loves literature, I think that young people today should believe in their emotions and stories. Do not hesitate to share, because each poem, each manuscript has its own value and deserves to be heard, to reach readers near and far.
* Thanks!
Ly Na (performed)
Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/van-hoa/202506/ly-thang-long-va-giai-thuong-khat-vong-de-men-2025-57f09b2/
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