A separate world of Tran Tuan

Tran Tuan's real name is Tran Ngoc Tuan, born in 1967 in Hanoi, originally from Quang Ngai. He is known to many people as a journalist, currently the Chief Representative of Tien Phong Newspaper in the Central region. However, Tran Tuan also writes in many genres, and is very successful in the fields of memoirs and poetry. Up to now, he has published the character memoirs "Don't call me Lai Phien Ha", "Overcoming novels", the memoir "Drinking coffee on the road of Vu", three poetry collections "Finger Magic", "Slower than the stop" and most recently "What is life, I have forgotten for so long".

The poetry collection “What is life, I have forgotten it for so long” published by Da Nang Publishing House in the first quarter (2025) includes two parts “Breathing” and “Verses” with about 40 poems, bringing readers to the isolated world of Tran Tuan. A world that may have been encountered in previous poetry collections: Loneliness, coldness and affectionate words.

It must be said that Tran Tuan has a very “reckless” writing style. That makes his words as sharp as a hammer, but also as deep as the silt deposited at the bottom of a river despite the swirling water. That “recklessness” extends from prose to poetry - a genre that is inherently very emotional. Look at his “indifference”: “I cannot forgive life/ life cannot forgive me/ life does not need to forgive life/ I do not need to forgive me” (“I and life do not forgive each other”) or “let go/ let go/ let go/ wait/ let go/ do not/ let go/ am/ let go/ let go/ look/ let go/ leave” (“Kê”).

Is it because he is used to living in solitude that he has such thoughts? Is he lonely, or has he reached the peak of his ego to create "indifference" with verses with a unique ego: "I don't write anything, I just write that I / I don't read anything, I just read that I". That refrain is sung over and over again in the poem "I don't want anything, I just want that" as an affirmation of the independent existence of Tran Tuan's ego.

Conscious of the ego, conscious of life like that, but sometimes he wondered: "What is life, I have forgotten for so long/ I am tired of an afternoon of sleepiness" ("What is life, I have forgotten for so long"). I remember Tran Tuan once said: "We cannot live without death. I choose to face death". Sharp and cold, calm, as if he was used to facing the most formidable opponent in life, recognizing death existing right in the living body, he forgot "what is life"? In the part "Breathing" - a living activity but mentioning death a lot, almost somewhere death is also vague like mist: "no one calls me anymore", "missing death is like missing home"...

Poet, journalist Tran Tuan.

Tran Tuan's poetry is like the character of a quiet man, forcing readers to explore to see the thoughts and feelings hidden deep inside. Although the poetic voice is hard and cold, it is still "immense and boundless with love". The poetic lines "one day when you die/ plant me like a tree/ so I can grow deep into a shadow/ covering the sad grass on the other side" ("Don't anyone call me anymore") are the clearest proof of that. There is still the idea of ​​sharing, of empathy from a poetic soul that seems unintentional and insensitive. From here we can see that he says "let it be" but does not ignore anything, does not forget to live and the concept of it. And so his poetry seems to be a reminder to live slowly and feel life because "sometimes breathing is implicitly living" ("Thousand Cranes").

“What is life, I have forgotten for so long” also impresses with its artistic techniques, creating a special effect that makes writing poetry an interesting game. For example, the poem “Is it possible?” is a permutation of three words: “Is it possible/ is it possible/ is not possible/ is not possible”. Many such “magics” are used in 12 poems such as “Ke”, “Chong muon gi chi muon rang”, “Dang”, “Dau”… showing the boldness and creativity of Tran Tuan.

Each poem of Tran Tuan is like a story with a beginning, a development and an end. There are short poems like a man of few words, there are long poems like a man lazy to express his feelings, but regardless of the length, they are all suggestions for us to decode his poetry.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mot-the-gioi-biet-lap-cua-tran-tuan-698703.html