Writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hanh pays tribute to life through his writings

Having traveled a lot, known a lot, and experienced many different positions, Dang Vuong Hanh confided that he writes to show gratitude to life, to thank what he has gained from this life. That is why his writings always have the weight of reality, crystallize from his own contemplation and sparkle with the beauty of humanity.

Thanks reality

At the beginning of his writing, Dang Vuong Hanh always kept in mind that he was truly grateful for life. Because according to the writer and journalist born in the year of the Dog, he was lucky to be born in the Bac Giang countryside with many cultural sediments. Then he grew up in the subsidy period with many realities of life that people still recounted many years later. At the age of 18, he left school and entered the army. At that time, the country was still hearing gunshots on the fronts of Vi Xuyen, Thanh Thuy, Ha Giang, Lang Son... Outside the islands, fierce waves were still rising from all sides.

All of those experiences are extremely valuable and vivid documents, stored in the memory, in the notes of a person with a sense of observation and literary language. That vivid reality also urged him to write, like a silkworm pulling out its intestines and spinning silk through its lens. Coming to literature at a very young age, in 1993, Dang Vuong Hanh won first prize in the "Youth Works" contest - a prestigious literary contest organized by Tien Phong newspaper and the Vietnam Writers Association with the short story "Under the Sun". His innocent, pure and talented writing style received the absolute consensus of the Jury.

Writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hanh receives congratulatory flowers from organizations and units at the launch of the short story collection "Mother Mary Online"

That was the motivation for Dang Vuong Hanh to continue writing and step into the professional literary path when studying at Nguyen Du Writing School, course 5, after publishing the novel “Wandering Knight”. Living and studying in an environment where he was surrounded by many names such as Da Ngan, Bui Mai Hanh, Dao Phong Lan, Nguyen Phuc Loc Thanh… Dang Vuong Hanh still had his own path.

By making efforts to learn French as a key to open the door to integration with the world, before graduating, he was personally selected by Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Anh Dao and Culturalist Huu Ngoc, and awarded a scholarship by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study literature and translation at Aix-Marseille University. This was an opportunity for him to come into contact with and absorb Western civilization, Western literature and culture, and enrich his knowledge.

Besides, with more than 30 years of journalism and also going through many different positions, he has had the opportunity to put himself in many different contexts and realities, to meet many different fates and situations of life. For all writers, that reality never slips through their heads, but they always see, understand, and absorb, and then understand more about life, understand people and themselves through contemplation, to think and feel about human relationships and the world.

Dang Vuong Hanh is always grateful for all the years in the army, studying in a literary environment or abroad, and the decades of working in journalism, from reporting on social politics, security, economics, to science and technology. That is an experience that not many people can easily have.

Like a river carrying heavy alluvium that filters out alluvial deposits, life has given Dang Vuong Hanh too much and it is his turn to write to repay life. “I write everything I have received and distilled as an inner urge, as a way to release accumulated energy and above all, to repay and show gratitude to life.

This life has many ups and downs, many hardships, difficulties, humiliation, and pain, but also so much joy, happiness, humanity, and tolerance. The goodness of life has motivated me to continue to compose literary works, writing with all my love and heart", Dang Vuong Hanh confided.

Literary hardships

With the same reality and life, why does each writer produce different works? It depends on their outlook on life, talent, and hard work with words. As writer Le Hoai Nam said, Dang Vuong Hanh was exposed to Western literature and culture, he also spent a lot of time researching Eastern and Western culture, literature, history, and philosophy, but he was not influenced by any previous writers. He has his own path, creating the Dang Vuong Hanh brand and he has the right to be proud of that.

Writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hanh received congratulatory flowers from the Editorial Board of Tuoi Tre Thu Do Newspaper at the launch of the short story collection "Duc Me Online".

When asked about the secret, Dang Vuong Hanh smiled brightly. According to him: “No writer can fictionalize everything. It must originate from life. And in my writings, readers can see scenes of life, good sayings, and very real situations. It is necessary to diligently observe the rich, bustling, and diverse life out there. Then we string together, knead, and create with our own language and style of expression to make a difference.”

That is why, according to Dang Vuong Hanh, writing literature is hard work. He does not write much. His fifth book, “Mother Online,” was written over a long period of time, several decades. There were times when he thought he could not write anymore. There were days when he could only write a few lines and then leave it there. Then, as Nguyen Du said, “The fate of a rich man is in his own hands - The fate of a rich man is in his own hands” (Doc Tieu Thanh Ky), it is difficult to avoid and difficult to give up the fate of a writer.

Short story collection "Mother Mary Online" by writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hanh.

As he continued to contemplate, reflect and absorb the human condition, his literary source naturally flowed and he started writing again. Literature was a passion for Dang Vuong Hanh, but he also set himself a clear and serious “work discipline”. In which, he wrote when he had life experience, wrote when he had thought seriously, experienced fully and wrote as a labor, not as an easy task.

Only then can readers feel and reflect on themselves in it. Only then can readers appreciate what the author writes and draw out for themselves something good, lingering after closing the book. So that readers can relax after all the hustle and bustle of life out there.

With “Mother Mary Online”, the work has a capacity of nearly 300 large-format pages, including 8 short stories, with the theme of love, family happiness and post-war issues. It can be said that “Mother Mary Online” has touched the hearts of those who are sensitive and responsible for life. Through the multidimensional and new perspective of the digital age and artificial intelligence; the writer who used to wear a soldier’s uniform, Dang Vuong Hanh, also brings readers pages of books as a form of “Cultural Heritage of Peace” dossier.

We can see that the writer's characters are very rich. From ordinary people to businessmen, people in higher positions, people he has met, interacted with and understood are all included in the writing.

Writer Le Hoai Nam highly appreciates the writings of writer and journalist Dang Vuong Hanh.

Through that, he wants to convey the message that no matter what life is like, people will strive for the values ​​of truth, goodness, beauty, and humanity.

As someone who first came to the literary environment and then pursued a career in literature and journalism for many years in his life, Dang Vuong Hanh believes that both journalism and writing complement each other and support each other so that in the end, they create works that are useful to life.

For writers, life experience is extremely important. Because no one can imagine forever and be far from reality. Because if you are far from reality, your readers will turn their backs on you.

Meanwhile, the job of a journalist is to travel a lot, know a lot, and make many contacts. That is the opportunity and the best condition for a writer to absorb reality.

Life has many nooks and crannies that one cannot know if one just sits in one place. The people and the situations that one has encountered and witnessed, at some point, things related to literature will suddenly flow out. Of course, for those who “have no business with poets”, because of making a living, for many reasons, journalists will no longer be able to create literature, according to him, that is also the law of life. That is also the reality that many writers must learn to balance and train themselves in the flow of time and life.

"Mother Online" is the latest collection of short stories, also the 5th book of Dang Vuong Hanh, collected from his works over a long period of time. Some of his stories have been published in prestigious publications such as the Army Literature Magazine, some have never been published.

Each short story in this book is like a slice of life, primitive, unreal, yet full of subtlety, without lacking in sublime flavor. Readers can feel the roughness, nakedness, pain and sometimes cruelty of life, as well as the constant personal thoughts, feelings and interpretations about the fates of life and the endless ups and downs of human life. And above all, it is the tireless adventure of pursuing emotions and creativity of a lonely person, always wandering on the path to find the true value and meaning of life and human destiny.

Like wine distilled from the most quintessential things, Dang Vuong Hanh did not write much but his literary underground stream has never been exhausted!

(Writer Le Hoai Nam).

According to Cam Tu (tuoitrethudo.com.vn)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nha-van-nha-bao-dang-vuong-hanh--tri-an-cuoc-doi-qua-nhung-trang-viet-post250144.html