Poet Bao Ngoc: I want to contribute to beautifying the Vietnamese language

Bao Ngoc is a poet who appears familiarly in many primary and secondary school textbooks (Creative Horizons, Connecting Knowledge with Life). Her poems are loved by many students because of their purity, innocence and sweetness as if they were soaked in each word. Few readers know that poet Bao Ngoc graduated from Nguyen Du Writing School, course 5 (1993-1998), but as if destined for childhood, twenty years later, she unexpectedly made her mark when she contributed many works to the innovative textbook program (2018 General Education Program).

Poet Bao Ngoc (Pen name Bao Ngoc, Bich Ngoc...)

On the occasion of Action Month for Children 2023, poet Bao Ngoc shared many concerns about poetry with children.

• WRITE WHILE FACING YOURSELF

There are many works in primary and secondary school textbooks. Which poem in the textbook bears the most poetic and human character of author Bao Ngoc?

It is not easy for the author himself to affirm that this poem or that poem bears his or her own poetic mark, as well as his or her own personality. Because each poem contains a corner of the writer’s soul, an inner voice that the writer wants to express, wants to share with his or her readers.

Whether the work's mark can represent and become the "brand" of an author or not will be determined by readers, critics and time.

However, there are many comments from fellow writers and critics that make me feel encouraged. For example, the comment of teacher Nguyen Van Thu: “In the poem “Pink Sunlight” - Vietnamese Textbook Grade 3 - just by focusing on the two highlights “The mist embraces mother’s figure” and “The smoke rises to the sky” we can see the author’s great sophistication in drawing a wonderful picture of a mother in the winter scene of the North. The kitchen smoke calls for so much warmth and the hard work of a mother is drawn through the mist… those beauties must be created by someone with a warm heart and a delicate soul from their simple words”.

Poet Bao Ngoc (pen name Bao Ngoc, Bich Ngoc...) graduated from Nguyen Du Writing School, course V (1993-1998). Published works: Soul of Time (essay), Writers' Association Publishing House, 2008; Moon Wharf (poetry), Writers' Association Publishing House, 2015; Keeping the Fire (poetry) Writers' Association Publishing House, 2015; Knock on Heaven's Door (poetry), Kim Dong Publishing House, 2019; Thung May Class (collection of poems and short stories), Writers' Association Publishing House, 2021. Her works in textbooks: Harvesting Words on the Mountain, Pink Sun, House Building Story, Painting Color...

Are your works inspired by sudden events or do they come from memories?

There are times when, while walking on the street, suddenly a poetic idea, a poetic phrase, a poetic rhythm resonates, at that moment I immediately stop by the roadside, take a pen and write it down in a small notebook - that was before. Now I quickly write it down on my phone.

However, most of the poems I write are from the moments when I sit facing myself in silence. I have shared that, whether I write from the mindset of someone who has reached the quiet corner of meditation, write from the position of a poet with emotions or concerns about human destiny, write when I am able to return, to live in the memories of a child… I always live fully, passionately every moment with my own emotional space.

• I ALWAYS SEE MYSELF AS “AN OLDER CHILD”

Reading Bao Ngoc's poems, many people still wonder how a poet who has long passed his childhood can still maintain such innocent childlike eyes?

I think, not only in childhood, but also when we grow up and get old, whatever makes us love and passionate, we will spend time unconditionally. Me too, when entering the world of children's childhood - when playing with them or when sitting and writing for them, writing about their sparkling sky, I always see myself as "an old child".

Being able to play with children, knowing how to play with them, and creating a world of wonders with them - that is a "privilege" for those who love them with true devotion.

One more thing, to keep looking at life with the eyes of a child, I have always kept a strange and eager look at everything new around me. To have that, keep your soul pure, do not judge, just feel, let your soul truly receive the miracles opening before your eyes.

Besides the innocence and gentleness that are easily recognizable in the similarities between the poem and the author Bao Ngoc, is there anything else?

Looking at the surface, and reading my poems, many readers notice, especially in children's poems, innocence and gentleness. Besides those obvious things, I would like to share just one more small thing, I am a person who values honesty and integrity to the point that it becomes a principle of life, even though it does not always bring convenience to me personally.

There have been times when I felt like I was “lost” and even “going against the grain” in a fast-paced life where all values can sometimes be swept away. But I still patiently follow the path I have chosen, because being able to live as yourself; daring to live as yourself; knowing how to live as yourself is a value that not everyone recognizes as a privilege.

• HOPE TO CONTRIBUTE A SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO BEAUTIFYING VIETNAMESE LANGUAGE

Appearing in most elementary school classrooms, even in middle school in many textbooks, what does that mean to you?

In recent years, when I and some young authors such as author Lam Thang (Hue); Van Thanh Le (Ho Chi Minh City); writer Xuan Thuy ( Hanoi ) ... had their works selected for textbooks, I welcomed this joy as a great encouragement. Because this contributes to affirming the continuity of the young writing team and the writing for children is still continuing. And young writers are making efforts so that children's literature does not leave a void in the hearts of readers.

What do you want to convey through poetry to children?

I think it was especially lucky for me to have a childhood spent in the countryside with straw, windy fields and many young friends. My grandfather was a small merchant in a small town and was a “literate” person. He knew French but more than that, he knew Kieu and loved Cheo. Over a cup of tea, he was generous, could socialize with both dignitaries and commoners, and was knowledgeable, so he was respected by many people.

I lived with my grandparents when I was young, so I absorbed the Cheo songs and Kieu poems that my grandfather often recited in his spare time. When I grew up, I went to live with my grandmother. My grandmother was also the "most literate person in the village". So the old stories, old stories in poetry, folk songs, and proverbs gradually permeated my soul as naturally as life, as breath. My mother was also a teacher who loved literature. The older I got, the more I realized that the soul of the countryside, the soul of the village, the soul of the country permeated me through poems with rhyme and rhythm. I love my homeland, love my people through poetry, through music , through the beautiful things that have been anchored in my soul since childhood.

So I want to continue those values by calling out the words, arranging the words so that the poems can reach the children, have fun with them, speak to them in the right "voice" that they want to listen to, that they can love.

I love my mother tongue, I love Vietnamese and I also hope that I can contribute a small part to beautify Vietnamese so that children can also love and cherish their Vietnamese language. As long as the Vietnamese language exists, the Vietnamese soul exists. As long as the Vietnamese soul exists, Vietnam exists... - I am imbued with this spirit in the song "Thương ca Tiếng Việt" and I understand it even more: When I am far from my motherland, in a strange land, suddenly hearing, in a corner somewhere, a Vietnamese person speaking Vietnamese, I am even more aware of how sacred my Mother Tongue is.

Thanks for sharing!

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