When women write about women

Women are half of humanity, always present in all activities of life. For that reason, when praising beauty, when portraying people or creating slices of everyday life, the image of women is always an endless source of inspiration. And when women write about women, they will easily find a sympathetic thread, easily delve into the inner world of the character. However, to be able to "empathize" or reflect in the most "real" way, still requires life experience, experience and an open heart of the writer.

Put yourself in each character's shoes

Prose is a mirror reflecting life through the fates and stories that breathe reality. With her own sensitivity and creative personality, writer Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen - President of the Lao Cai Province Literature and Arts Association has portrayed the image of women in many different depths, both realistic and moving. They belong to many social classes: farmers, intellectuals, businesswomen with all generations, old and young, and living everywhere from the mountains, plains to cities. However, those women have in common the love of their husbands, children and people. They are the youngest aunt ( Faraway Season ), Miss Lieu ( Slanting Night ), Miss Nhi ( Chong Chanh ), Le ( Afternoon Ferry ) or Nin and Pua ( Wooden Wall ), Kim ( Flaky )...

Works of writer Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen.

Each woman has a unique destiny, a unique story. They can be victims of domestic violence, unfulfilled in love, lonely in a foreign land or burdened with worries about continuing the family line. Each life is a slice, a piece that contributes to creating their colorful world , where contradictions and oppositions coexist, creating the inner depth of each character. In each page, writer Ngoc Yen always puts herself in each character. The liveliness of the fates still comes from the inherent reality.

“ Perhaps that is a part of life, because somewhere there still exist lives like that. I only fulfill the role of a “secretary of the times”, sending more voice to the feelings and aspirations of women” - writer Ngoc Yen shared.

Writer Ngoc Yen (4th from left, top row) and other authors participate in creative practice at Thac Ba Hydropower Plant.

Writers can take character prototypes from people they meet somewhere in life or from people who are familiar to them. “ I was with my grandmother for a long time. My mother is a traditional and wonderful woman. I also have two biological sisters, and I am currently living with my daughter. Sometimes I think it was an arrangement. They, the prototypes, entered my book, perhaps I added a little more detail to make the image become a statue ” – prose author Duong Thu Phuong said this about the characters in her stories.

Short story collection "Women's Stories" by author Duong Thu Phuong.

She wrote about her grandmother: “ …I imagine, in a corner of the house on the old ground, the stone mortar used to pound rice in the past was turned upside down, she stood on it, curled her hair in front of her face, her body slightly bent down, her hair flowing out was black but painful. She was as beautiful as a cheo actress ” ( Grandmother ). The author is not only sensitive and understanding enough but also recreates a unique image for themselves: “ By the mortar, the plump figure of a mother is sitting and pounding, rhythmically as if lulling her child. The green and plump rice grains are wrapped in dong leaves that have been burned and followed her footsteps. People say, the sticky rice of this region, the green rice of this region, the sticky rice of this region are the most delicious and fragrant, beautiful, fragrant and cool like a Thai girl, carrying within it the quintessence of heaven and earth ” ( Passing through the human world ).

Author Duong Thu Phuong (far right) goes on a field trip to compose.

She always hopes that women in this life will share more, love more, cherish more and each person will see that they have their own value.

Let love speak

If prose is a true slice of life, poetry is the author's heart. In the profound verses, the poet Nguyen Le Hang's feelings for her mother are very profound. That inspiration comes from life and childhood memories, that is motherly love - a silent, enduring love that nurtures a person's whole life.

Author Nguyen Le Hang said: “ My mother is a math teacher. She has always worked hard, silently sacrificing her whole life for her children. She raised me with the wind of Sa Pa mountain, with the sweat running down her face, with the cold of her ten fingertips when they dug into the rain and snow. I grew up in the poetic mountains of Sa Pa, with a beautiful childhood and was so happy to have my mother as my companion. She accompanied me through my school years, loving, guiding and sharing in the most difficult times. She studied every math problem and every essay with me. Those are deep-rooted memories, happy moments that I carry with me in my luggage today .”

Author Nguyen Le Hang.

The brilliant flower fields, the days listening to the sound of rain and wind, waiting for the sound of mother's footsteps returning from the cold winter markets, the days when snow covered the mountains and forests in Sa Pa were deeply imprinted in my memory, becoming a source of natural emotions and simple but loving pieces. Those images entered the poem of author Nguyen Le Hang:

I grew up following my mother through the forests looking for trees and grass.

Pick up dry branches for firewood to keep warm in the winter

Planting flower beds creates a happy spring

I walk forever with my feet as I experience every day

Mother's spring builds each tomorrow.

(The day I was born)

She writes about her mother from the most simple, most real things in her mother's life, from the bowl of rice her mother cooked, the pillow her mother embroidered, to the times her mother braved the sun and rain in the distant forests. Those little things contain so much love and hardship that only when we grow up, we can understand enough to appreciate.

The stubble is dry, and a new season has begun.

My mother plowed and planted again,

Again hard, hard work...

(My mother)

Poetry collections by author Nguyen Le Hang.

Writing about mother is a way for the author to express deep gratitude. Although time passes and life changes, the image of mother is always the quietest, warmest and most sacred support. Poems about mother not only preserve the pure memories of childhood, but also are sincere words of gratitude for mother and for all mothers who have silently gone through this life with never-ending love.

The story of “difference”

Unlike men, before becoming artists, women must be normal women with their inherent vocation. The role of women in society - being mothers, wives, and keepers of the family fire - makes the time spent on creation precious and precious. Time for creation for women is very limited, even having to take advantage of every short moment. Because in addition to talent and passion, women when holding a pen must also overcome many invisible barriers, from social prejudices, family pressure to time limits for creation. Therefore, writing for them is a silent but meaningful journey.

Ms. Nguyen Le Hang currently works at the Lao Cai Department of Justice - a serious, standard and rational environment. That sometimes causes creative emotions to be suppressed, overwhelmed by daily work. But it is the experiences of being a wife, a mother, a keeper of the family fire... that give women the ability to feel very deeply about love, happiness, pain and sacrifice.

Writing poetry is not easy for women, but it is these difficulties that create poems full of vitality, depth and authenticity. From everyday experiences, love for family, children, homeland…, they write with real emotions, touching the hearts of readers. Women have the ability to listen delicately, feel every little detail that others sometimes unintentionally forget.

“ I think women’s poetry – with its sensitivity and emotional depth – is an indispensable part of the literary picture. Women may be weak, but they know how to listen; they may be quiet, but they write things that touch the bottom of the reader’s heart. For me, writing is a happiness. It is where I can be myself – express myself, keep the most fragile moments of my soul. And if poetry is an extraordinary thing, then I think women who write poetry are the ones who quietly do that extraordinary thing – every day, with all their sensitivity, resilience and silent love” – poet Nguyen Le Hang confided.

However, in their own world, female authors are always able to live true to their own world - holding a pen, writing down their torments, their feelings, their aspirations. And in that silence, their literature bears a very unique mark: feminine but full of personality. It seems that the biggest difficulty for female writers is not only the lack of time but also the lack of understanding. Sometimes people doubt the creativity of women.

“ I believe that with determination, with a kind heart and a discerning eye, female writers are still affirming every day: they not only write about women but also about people, about society, about the most universal values ​​of life. The creative journey of female writers is not easy, but it is precisely that difficulty that makes each page of their writing become precious and genuine. And I believe that those personal marks will touch the deepest layer of the reader's heart ” - writer Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen affirmed.

Women are born to be loved and deserve happiness. Hopefully, female writers will continue to contribute emotional works, writing about the beauty of women with a heart that is always moved by life and beauty.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/khi-phu-nu-viet-ve-phu-nu-post884861.html