Phu Yen Online - Poet Dao Quoc Vinh: Writing for children with a pure heart

Having the character of a teacher, having done many different jobs, including nearly 20 years as principal of a private school he founded, and then Mr. Dao Quoc Vinh came to literature with a pure heart for children. In 5 years, poet Dao Quoc Vinh introduced to readers 7 books, including 2 poetry books and 1 novel for children.

On the road

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh was born in 1955 in Gia Lam, Hanoi. After graduating from university, he became a lecturer at Viet Bac Industrial Technical University, now the Industrial Technical University of Thai Nguyen University. He taught at this school for 5 years. After moving to Hanoi to be closer to his parents, he wanted to teach at university, but then life brought him to an agency under the Ministry of Domestic Trade, now the Ministry of Industry and Trade .

When the relationship between Vietnam and China began to warm up, informal trade with China developed, and at the same time, problems and disputes arose; the agency needed someone who understood the law and was fluent in Chinese to handle the work. So, Dao Quoc Vinh was sent to study. He became a student for the second time, studying law and Chinese at two different universities.

In 2005, Mr. Dao Quoc Vinh's son - now writer Dao Quoc Minh - unfortunately had an accident and was seriously injured. He had to take a break from work to take care of his son. After going through days of anxiety and hardship, he told himself that he had to change.

With the support of his family, Dao Quoc Vinh left his familiar job and entered a field that he was very interested in:Education . In the atmosphere of innovation and socialization of education, Mr. Dao Quoc Vinh founded To Hien Thanh Private Primary School (now To Hien Thanh Primary School, Hanoi) and held the position of principal for 17 years. He recalled: “Running a private primary school was a huge challenge because I was old and had never taught young students. I spent a lot of time learning how to interact with children and was successful, because I received their love afterwards.”

Come to literature and diligently create

In 2022, Mr. Dao Quoc Vinh left the principalship of To Hien Thanh Primary School to devote his time to literature. This teacher came to literature by chance, when his passion for literature from childhood was still like a smoldering fire inside him.

Poet Dao Quoc Vinh said: I have a friend from college, who is a colonel in the army. She suffered from a serious illness, and during the most difficult days of her life, she remembered her friend from college. We thought he had died in the border war. On New Year's Day 2018, she went to his hometown to look for him. And then, she found him; at that time, he was the director of a department in Dak Nong . I was very moved by the unrequited love of a woman - even though she had lost contact for 40 years since graduating, when standing on the fragile boundary between life and death, she remembered her friend from the past.

I was so moved that I wrote the first poem, speaking for her, that maybe you don't love me, but at this moment, when I'm standing between life and death, I need a lie from you to lean on, to overcome the illness. I told my old classmate: "She needs a word from you, even if it's a lie. Don't be cruel to her!"

And starting from that poem, Dao Quoc Vinh was filled with poetic emotions. He wrote about his homeland, about the unforgettable memories in his life. His first collection of poems , The Jade Pen Still Blooms, was released to readers in 2018. After that collection of poems, Dao Quoc Vinh turned to children's literature.

He told about this opportunity: “I went looking for children’s books to give to the students at my elementary school but couldn’t find any. So I wrote poems for children. Those poems were collected and printed in the poetry collection Your Dream, published in 2019.”

Dao Quoc Vinh's third book is Tinh Tho , consisting of 108 six-eight poems, released in 2020. Also in that year, he was admitted to the Vietnam Writers' Association. The following year, he had a children's poetry collection Em Yeu Nha Minh . In 2022, Dao Quoc Vinh published a poetry collection Trang Oath .

Joining the Vietnam Writers Association with the votes of the Poetry Council, but recently, poet Dao Quoc Vinh has... short stories and novels. The short story collection The Glory of the Land and the novel The Eyes of the Sky show Dao Quoc Vinh's efforts to explore and create. He shared: " I wrote The Eyes of the Sky for children. The novel reflects a part of Northern society during the years of hardship, when the country was still at war and the two regions were still divided. My childhood is recreated in this novel."

It is interesting that poet Dao Quoc Vinh came to poetry from intense emotions of love, but many of his works are for young readers. He confided: “I have experienced many emotions in my life. My wife and I got married, had no home, had to live apart, waiting for each other. My goal at that time was to make a living, have money to support my wife and children. But then I felt that material joy was not enough to fill my soul. After becoming a primary school principal, every afternoon, I was hugged by students, telling stories about school, friends, telling me which student had scolded or beaten me today. My love for students has allowed me to write 2 poetry collections and 1 novel for children. I dare not say how artistically my works have reached, but first of all, it is my love for children.”

YEN LAN

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