Record life's journey with words and emotions

After two poetry collections “Loạn Bút Hành” and “Chieu khong ten nhu bắm muc trong doi”, poet, journalist Nguyen Tien Thanh, Director of Education Publishing House, former Editor-in-Chief of Life and Law newspaper, has just released his third poetry collection - “Viên ca”.

Poet Nguyen Tien Thanh is famous among Hanoi students as he was a prominent figure in the student poetry movement at Hanoi University in the 1980s. His poems were hand-copied by students and passed around to read.

Poet Tien Thanh (right) shares about the poetry collection Vien Ca

This new collection of poems includes 39 poems, written by Nguyen Tien Thanh over the past 6 years, expressing the poet's reflections and contemplations on life and love in middle age.

Poet Nguyen Tien Thanh has more than 30 years of experience in journalism. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Members and General Director of the Vietnam Education Publishing House.

Poet Nguyen Tien Thanh shared: “I studied at the Faculty of Literature at the University, and after graduating, I was retained to teach for a short time. Then I went to work as a journalist, a profession related to justice, so I was thrown around too much in life and had no time to create poetry. 'Vien ca' is the path that people must go through in their journey of destiny. On that journey, I encountered many landscapes, I only recorded those scenes with words and emotions.”

For poet Nguyen Tien Thanh, in the journey of life, every step is a change, poetry is the same, each poem is a continuation of different emotions and associations. After 30 years of working as a journalist, moving on to another job, he believes that he must also change himself.

Commenting on the poetry collection “Vien Ca”, poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, Chairman of the Writers’ Association, said he was very surprised when Nguyen Tien Thanh released this collection: “We have been active in the poetry club since Thanh was a student. I thought that Tien Thanh would forget poetry when he became a manager, but one autumn day, he reappeared in a different spirit, a different period and rhythm.”

Poetry Collection of Songs of the Far East

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu commented: “Vien Ca has many six-eight poems, which make me think of the image of the agarwood tree, the leaves are still the same, the tree is still the same but inside the tree there is the accumulated agarwood scent. Tien Thanh's poetry is like that, he goes through this life, the joys and sorrows, the inspirations, with an open eye to look at this life, giving him experiences and accumulations. It is still the same style, the form does not change, it is still very traditional but the romance and adventure are still like youth, but each day carries a bigger message, because it flows in the stream of thought. That is why many friends when reading his poems before, received this collection of poems with surprise and contemplation. Poetry has many paths, Tien Thanh chose the path, going underground in life, until the day it is revealed. 'Vien Ca' still contains the trembling of poetry but is full of the philosophy of this life”.

Writing about the poetry collection “Vien Ca”, critic Nguyen Hoai Nam, Nhan Dan Newspaper, member of the Central Council for Literature and Art Theory and Criticism, commented that Nguyen Tien Thanh started his poetry career from the student poetry movement at Hanoi universities in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the years when the grayness of life immediately disappeared, leaving only the sublimation of poetry and the ecstatic emotions that exploded every time the dormitory poetry nights began.

Poet Tien Thanh signs autographs for readers

In those years, youth loved poetry, loved poetry to the point of forgetting the hunger that was constantly gnawing at their stomachs. Many of Nguyen Tien Thanh’s poems written during this period are still known by heart by some people. And their spirit – passionately romantic and wildly unconventional – through the time gap of several decades, seems to still radiate a retrospection until now.

Critic Nguyen Hoai Nam believes that in Nguyen Tien Thanh's "Vien Ca", the mischievous, overwhelming, and liberal qualities have been reduced, but in return, his new collection of poems has added richness in the depth of thoughts, the uniqueness of language, and the system of poetic images.

Nguyen Tien Thanh does not advocate poetic innovation, his poetry even leans heavily towards the classical. However, reading his poetry, one can always feel a certain freshness, the freshness in the poetry of a poet who is constantly digging deep to find himself. And constantly thinking about distant horizons.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/nha-tho-nguyen-tien-thanh-ghi-lai-hanh-trinh-cuoc-doi-bang-ngon-tu-va-cam-xuc-20240905093223731.htm