Author Phat Duong: "Painting" the Country with Poetry

With Xu Nuoc (Kim Dong Publishing House), Phat Duong (born in 1995, real name Duong Thanh Phat (photo), currently living and working in Can Tho City) has just returned to children's literature in a new genre, which is poetry. With his artistic thinking, he has "painted" the familiar and vivid scenery of the river delta in the West from clear verses.

Debuting in the literary world with the short story collection "Naturally Say", one of the works selected for publication from the 6th Literature Contest for 20-year-olds, Phat Duong surprised everyone with a writer in his early 20s but with a new and unique way of choosing and exploiting topics. Like many other young writers, Phat Duong has had many short stories about the fate of women with ups and downs, bitterness, easily found somewhere in the short stories of the previous generation. What is noteworthy about Phat Duong is his effort to renew himself through topics with paradoxical, absurd, and magical colors. Later on, his short stories became more and more mature, bringing many surprises with the story collections "Red Nails" (2020), "Open Your Eyes and Dream" (2020), "2 People in a Cabinet" (2023).

Coming to children's literature with the long story 100 windows in 2022, this year, Phat Duong returns with a collection of poems for children with a simple name that seems to encompass the space of the Southwest region: Xu nuoc . The collection of poems with 29 poems, creates a rich and colorful river scene with images of floating markets: Like in a fairy tale / The boats talk and laugh / There are both flowers and fruits / Fresh faces of people ( Going to the floating market early in the morning i). And there are also familiar images, such as the Khmer pagoda with colorful patterns, the bustling ngo boat racing festival, the soulful xang xe fishing, abundant fish and shrimp... In particular, with simple words, Phat Duong also shows readers the affection of the people here: No need for money to go to the market / The basket is still full and plentiful / Because of the love of the village / Measured with love ( Going to the market without money ).

According to Phat Duong, before writing prose, he touched literature with poetry, but mainly poems written for himself to release his emotions. Until he started writing for children, he realized that poetry has the ability to support children better than prose does. “For example, rhyme and condensation, isn’t it easier for us to recite a poem fluently when we were young than to memorize a paragraph? For that reason, I chose poetry as the form of expression for this work,” Phat Duong shared.

With Xu Nuoc this time, Phat Duong also wanted to challenge himself. Because before, he often wrote free verse, while poetry for children focused on rhyming. For Phat Duong, writing poetry for children is also a way for him to relax and observe life with a new perspective.

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tac-gia-phat-duong-ve-xu-nuoc-bang-tho-post794689.html