“Green Sand Star” - A literary journey imbued with the essence of the Central Highlands

As a new author who started her writing journey in 2023, Nguyen Thanh Thuy has quickly affirmed her name and mark with impressive awards.

In the writing contest with the theme “Mobile Police - Steel Shield Protecting Peaceful Life”, she was awarded a special prize for her short story “Mai Hoa Quyen”. In the short story contest of Duong Van magazine 2023, she won third prize and most recently in the Binh Dinh Poetry and Short Story Contest 2024 with her short story “Doi Muoi” she won an encouragement prize.

And the most surprising is the short story collection “Sao Cat Xanh” with 10 short stories that was just released by Lien Viet Company in collaboration with Literature Publishing House in June 2025. The short story collection is a way to mark the first literary path of this writer from Tay Gia Lai .

For many authors, writing is a process of exploration, shaping and leaving their mark on their works. But right from the first works such as "Where the storm passes", to the defining works such as "Mai hoa quyen" or "Thênh thang M'Đrắk", readers can see an overwhelming unity of the vast space, filled with rain, sun, wind and dew, both harmonious and harsh through long, evocative sentences. For example: "The road is as thin as a thread, both small and steep, winding between large rocks, hidden under the tall, yellow cogon grass, swaying in the sunset"; "In April, the dry season wind blows up waves of red dust. Each patch of yellow cogon grass burns the hillside. From the direction of the mương forest, thousands of butterflies break out of their cocoons, fluttering over the vast coffee fields, rushing towards the Kdun village"...

“Mai Hoa Quyen” has opened up to readers the vastness and undulations of the Central Highlands, full of differences. From there, stories and human fates stand out against the vast, harsh, yet existing and surviving natural background. Thuy’s stories are not forced but overflowing, the words are vivid and genuine, like cows leisurely grazing on the steppe without any fuss or confusion. The fates of people in the sunny and windy plateau live with their own reasoning, with their own pursuits, desires and roots in the most natural and instinctive way. But in that leisurely life, love and daily life have woven themselves into haunting relationships and philosophies. Like the simple love of H’Ril and Y Pher on the vast steppe of grass and trees. Or from the flash flood, human love becomes even stronger in “Where the storm passes through”. And the desires and inhibitions were released in the forbidden forest, the young man Y Dong lay down with the person he loved as a way to compensate for the green sand star trees that were destroyed.

The space in “Sao Cat Xanh” does not stop at the Central Highlands but spreads down to the sea with “Doi Muoi” and “Luoi Doi”. The dialects and the love associated with the sea do not need to be shouted but are crystallized and condensed by Thuy. Perhaps because her childhood was closely associated with the sea, in these two short stories, readers can see the simplicity of the coastal people associated with their sunny and windy homeland. And hidden deeper in those words is a melancholy psychology with a thick scent, tightly binding Tam’s life in “Trang Luc Dong”, then the nostalgia for the distant homeland in “Thuoc La Tro Bong”, “Gio Nam Pan” or “Khoi Trang Bay Len” showing Thuy’s confidence in not only covering large spaces but also blending people with the culture of each land in each story.

Although this is only her first collection of short stories, Nguyen Thanh Thuy has shown readers the meticulousness in the way she constructs her short stories. Dr. Ha Thanh Van - Literary critic and theorist commented in the preface of the book: "The short story collection "Sao Cat Xanh" by Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy is a literary journey imbued with the Central Highlands, where human life blends with harsh nature, where everyday stories are imbued with poetry and philosophy of life associated with pain, misfortune, and loneliness. With a sharp writing style and delicate senses, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, a female author born in 1985, currently a police officer and member of the Gia Lai Province Literature and Arts Association, has portrayed small but vibrant lives in the middle of the vast plateau of wind, sun, rain, and sudden storms. Each short story in the book is a piece of the puzzle, contributing to creating a colorful picture of life, love and the struggle for meaningful existence of the people here."

As can be seen, “Green Sand Star” is a signal for readers to believe in the author's sure path to maturity. Especially when Nguyen Thanh Thuy not only released her first collection of short stories but also completed the manuscript of the novel "Migrant Smoke" which is also her first as an orientation for continuing on this difficult literary path.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/sao-cat-xanh-hanh-trinh-van-chuong-dam-chat-tay-nguyen-post562894.html