Poet Dao Phong Lan: Can't say goodbye to literature

Poet Dao Phong Lan

1. In recent literary awards of the city, Dao Phong Lan has always been named for the following awards: encouragement prize in the 2022 Good Short Story contest, award in the 2023 Good Poetry contest jointly organized by Ho Chi Minh City Literature Magazine and Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, second prize in the 2nd "Humanity of the Southern Land" poetry contest of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association.

I still remember when I first came to Hanoi to study at the writing school, in the evenings on the rooftop, we often gathered to read poetry, talk about literature and sing. In those evenings, the seniors would “lead the way” for us to sing the song “Dem xoang Tay Nguyen” with the instruction: “This song is based on the poetry of a girl from class 5!”.

That sister was Dao Phong Lan. But at that time, I still didn’t know much about this name, I was only impressed by the song with its beautiful, unique images. And we kept singing it all the time during our student years: “The night is clear, clear/ The communal house is lit by a flickering fire/ Long-standing rice wine is stored in the depths of your eyes/ I drink the rice wine, drink the rice wine but I don’t dare to drink…”.

After graduating, I moved to Ho Chi Minh City to start a career. Flipping through old newspapers and magazines, I occasionally read poems and short stories signed by Dao Phong Lan. In a way, I still think that Dao Phong Lan and I have a connection. Yet it was 14 years later that I had the opportunity to meet her again, even though we lived in the same city. That was in June 2023, when I, along with writers Truong Anh Quoc, Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh, Vo Thu Huong and Van Thanh Le, visited writer Doan Thach Bien. During that trip, I had the opportunity to meet poet Dao Phong Lan for the first time.

For many writers of the 7x and 8x generations, writer Doan Thach Bien was a person of great influence when they first started writing. In the years 1990-2000, the weekly Ao Trang of “Mr. Bien” became a place for many young writers to confide in and actively engage in literary activities, including Dao Phong Lan. Looking back at the old Ao Trang magazines, the name Dao Phong Lan appears almost continuously.

It was also "Mr. Bien" who encouraged and contacted to create the bookshelf "First Works", which became a dignified debut for many writers such as Tran Tung Chinh, Dinh Le Vu, Hoang Lan Anh, Duong Binh Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh... At the age of 20, while still a student at Nguyen Du School of Writing (now the Faculty of Writing - Journalism, Hanoi University of Culture), Dao Phong Lan published her first collection of poems, January Two (Thanh Nien Publishing House, 1995).

Thanks to “Mr. Bien”, she has another short story collection called Matrix (Ho Chi Minh City Literature Publishing House, 2001). Perhaps because of such a fate, although she is no longer active in literature, Dao Phong Lan still arranged her work to visit when she heard that writer Doan Thach Bien’s health had worsened. Just a small detail like that, but I could not help but be touched and believe in her kindness!

2. I believe that the more interesting a person's life is, the richer and more colorful their spiritual life will be. Dao Phong Lan is such a person. At the age of 10, she left the mountainous town of Pleiku (Gia Lai) and went to Hanoi alone to study intermediate music at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music (now the Vietnam National Academy of Music). In 1993, at the age of 18, Dao Phong Lan attended Nguyen Du Writing School.

In addition to music and literature, she also has a BA in English, a BA in Law, a Master's in Marketing and Communications Management; has had many jobs: at one time she worked in communications for a bank, now she has switched to working in the field of communications andeducation .

With such interesting jobs, if I don’t write, it would be… such a waste! Dao Phong Lan shared that, in fact, during the time away from the literary world, she still wrote. Poems written after stressful working hours help her balance her life a lot.

Instead of sending it to newspapers and magazines like before, she posted it on her personal page for her friends to read. Readers can find these poems in the collection Em không thể nói lời ta biet (published in September 2023), along with some poems that appeared decades ago, as an intention in portraying the appearance of Dao Phong Lan's poetry.

Not stopping there, after receiving many literary awards for adults, recently, poet Dao Phong Lan unexpectedly released a long story for children: Loving Little Hamlet (Kim Dong Publishing House). The work brings a simple, rustic story but sparkles with love between people and people, between people and the animals around them.

Dao Phong Lan shared that coming to children's literature is a beginning but also a return in a new form, purer and more innocent. In addition to Loving Little Hamlet, Dao Phong Lan has another long story manuscript for children and is in the process of completing unfinished manuscripts.

“I return to literature with the mindset of an adult, recalling my childhood memories, where I had many sweet, beautiful days; memories with friends. I think that children should still be children, and so I will guide and support their souls in a world, no matter how that world changes tomorrow, the responsibility of a writer is to bring them a clear sky full of love,” she expressed.

Since late February this year, poet Dao Phong Lan and her colleagues have created a podcast called Eyes Closed - Ears Opened. The program lasts 20-30 minutes, for children aged 7 and up, with the hope of helping children stop using electronic devices before bedtime, just lie down and close their eyes to listen to the program, helping their imaginations to fly far.

Podcasts will be short but interesting stories, helping children understand more about the world around them, gain more life skills or simply know how to behave with everything around them.

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nha-tho-dao-phong-lan-khong-the-noi-loi-tu-biet-voi-van-chuong-post795732.html