Don't take children's literature lightly.

Following the general development trend of life, nowadays the need for spiritual life of children is increasing day by day. However, literature for children is not developing as strongly as before, and is even considered as "a forgotten land". Regarding this issue, Quang Tri Newspaper reporter recently had a conversation with poet NGUYEN HUU QUY, Head of the Vietnam Writers Association of Quang Tri province.

- First of all, I would like to thank poet Nguyen Huu Quy for accepting the interview invitation of Quang Tri Newspaper. Recently, many readers often mention him with poems and essays written for children. Notably, he recently published a collection of essays titled "Whispering Sand" which is considered a very beneficial spiritual food for children. Could you please share with Quang Tri Newspaper readers about this collection of essays?

- The book "Whispering Sand" is a collection of 19 of my essays, printed and published by Kim Dong Publishing House.

This book is mainly about my innocent and carefree youth. Like my contemporaries, my childhood went through both war and peace with many unforgettable happy and sad memories. Those memories entered the pages of literature naturally and deeply, just like my love for my homeland, family and life. I do not want to write about big things but concentrate my feelings on the most familiar and closest things, which are "Sand of the village"; the wind of "One time of the south"; "A corner of the countryside moon"; "The old house and the childhood "wife""... It is also the moment when tears fell when writing the letter O that did not look like a chicken egg ("Crying for the letter O"). The essay book also boldly depicts stories and games from childhood with "Under the statue of Jesus"; "My cinema team"; "Boys cannot help but know how to play soccer"; "Children have many interesting stories"; "Going to the bath and meeting a ghost"...

Don't take children's literature lightly.

Poet Nguyen Huu Quy's poetry collections for children are printed and published by Kim Dong Publishing House - Photo: TL

That is a bit of childish calm expressed through the essay “Remembering Tet”. And of course, in the book “Whispering Sand”, I cannot help but mention the closest people in the family through “Grandma and Sister”; “Dad and Mom”... Besides the beautiful memories, the book also has sad stories when writing about the story of my mother being killed by American cluster bombs (“A Night of War”) and the very short life of my younger sister (“Em Ha”). In addition, I also included some essays when I was an adult, writing about my teacher (“The Teacher’s Gift”), about my daughter (“Mid-Autumn Festival Away from My Child”; “Daughter and Cat”)...

- What motivated you to come up with the idea of publishing this collection of essays?

- For me, the past has never disappeared in the present. Memories always appear in me with indelible beauty. It can be said that it is a part of my life energy. Therefore, I want to preserve my childhood memories. I also want to tell my children and grandchildren and other young readers about the years that have passed. I hope that my writings will contribute to fostering love for life, love for people, and love for nature for my children.

- It is known that, in addition to the collection of essays “Whispering Sand”, you also have many other poems and prose works for children, some of which are included in textbooks. Could you please share about the “brainchildren” that you have created for children?

- Actually, I have been writing for children for quite a long time. Previously, I won a prize from Kim Dong Publishing House for my manuscript of the poetry collection “The Ram Village Football Team”. With this collection of poems, I also won a prize in the writing campaign for children organized by the Vietnam Writers Association in collaboration with the Committee for Child Care and Protection and UNICEF in Vietnam. I myself have had 3 collections of poetry for children published by Kim Dong Publishing House including: “Huong Rung Thoi Deserted Hill” (24,168 copies), “Trong Loi Me Lullaby” (24,184 copies) and “Nu Chung Ta Co Mieu Me” (15,824 copies). Recently, I also completed the manuscript for the writing campaign for children of Kim Dong Publishing House with the poetry collection “Bong Hoan Than Superman”. I am very happy that my poem “Xon Xa Summer” was selected to be included in the Vietnamese textbook for grade 4, the “Creative Horizon” series. Those small successes have brought me great joy, the joy of writing for children.

- From your own experience, what difficulties do you find in writing for children?

- Writing for children is not easy. Those who think that writing for children is easier than writing for adults are wrong. Writing for children must first understand them correctly. The writer must be really close, if not immersed in the world of childhood, in order to be able to write. Children are innocent and pure, not naive or foolish. We should not underestimate the understanding of children today. Works written for children require great creativity. I think that if the writing is not unique or new, it will certainly not be able to attract children. Every writer who wants to have good works written for children must achieve that. In fact, children are often "pickier eaters" than adults. The same goes for "spiritual food", we must put in enough effort to make them like it. That is the difficulty of writing for children. This is also one of the reasons why not many writers and poets focus on writing for children. In recent times, we have had the feeling that children's literature is like a "forgotten land".

- So according to the poet, what must we do to plow this "land" considered "forgotten"?

- We often say to each other: "Let's give the best to children". So, in literature, we should also give the best to children. Every good page of literature, every good poem is very useful for children. There are poems I learned more than half a century ago but until now they still shine in my soul. Therefore, I think we should never take lightly the creation of literature for children. We need to have proper investment in children's literature from the writing team, the publishing system, the royalty regime, the awards... The first thing is that society must recognize the importance of children's literature to have the right development strategy, bringing great efficiency. In addition, we cannot fail to mention the coordination between society, schools, and families in creating a passion for reading for children. This is also a difficulty while the reading culture environment in our country is on the decline.

I think we need to bring children back to books, including e-books. Good books, beautiful books will be valuable companions to childhood. It cannot be said otherwise, that is the happiness of writers who specialize in writing for children.

Thank you poet!

Tay Long (performed)

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