Ly Thang Long - A young soldier with a passion for literature

After 6 times of organization, the De Men Children's Award has only awarded the De Men Aspiration Award to 2 poetry collections, the manuscript There is a Flat Earth in Your Eyes is one of them. This is the first collection of children's poetry by Ly Thang Long (born in 2000 in Dong Nai), which he composed during his military service at the Dong Nai Provincial Military Command as a soldier of the Information Company.

1. The De Men Children's Award, established in 2020, has created a vibrant atmosphere for children's literature in the country. However, the fact that prose is "overwhelming" in the award seasons has made many people believe that the De Men Award is "prejudiced" against poetry!

Author Ly Thang Long and his parents at the 6th De Men Children's Awards ceremony in 2025

Therefore, when the manuscript of the poetry collection There is a Flat Earth in Your Eyes by Ly Thang Long (last year it was the poetry collection Secret Little Kingdom by La Thanh Ha) was honored at the 6th De Men Children's Awards 2025, it dispelled that "rumor". According to the jury, Ly Thang Long's poetry collection "impressed with the combination of an innocent look and the ability to evoke deep thoughts...".

The poetry collection There is a Flat Earth in Your Eyes consists of 26 poems, most of which are composed in free form but still rich in melody. Through the poems: When You Sleep, Where You Passed, You Also Have a Train Station, When You Stumble, Wanderers and Mother's Advice..., Ly Thang Long seems to be whispering to the children, who are also the children inside him. The topics in his poems are very diverse, from childhood dreams, family affection, the journey of growing up, to thoughts about the flat era, where the world is both vast and lonely.

In fact, Ly Thang Long is not completely a "newbie" in literature. Before the poetry collection "There is a flat Earth in your eyes", in 2021, he released the story collection "How strange is puberty" (Kim Dong Publishing House), bringing funny stories and changes in the psychology of puberty. This is not an easy topic, so it seems that not many authors have exploited it. "Initially, I sent a manuscript of a long story to Kim Dong Publishing House, but it was rejected because at that time I had not yet perfected my writing techniques and structure in writing. However, the Publishing House representative said that in my manuscript there were very interesting highlights about gender colors, along with a unique writing style, so they hoped I could write a collection of short stories about puberty. That was the motivation for me to complete the story collection "How strange is puberty", Ly Thang Long recalled.

Before joining the army, Ly Thang Long was a member of the Literature Committee - Dong Nai Province Literature and Arts Association. He said that his father was a commanding officer who often worked away from home, so since childhood, he lived mainly with his mother, a civil servant in the health sector. Although strict in raising children, his mother was surprisingly very "generous" in buying books for her children to read. In addition, his father also read a lot of books, so when he grew up, he inherited that precious "asset". From his passion for reading, Ly Thang Long gradually picked up a pen without realizing it.

2. A special thing is that the manuscript of the poetry collection "There is a flat Earth in your eyes" was completed by Ly Thang Long during his military service at the Military Command of Dong Nai province. Graduating from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education in 2024, he volunteered to join the army. According to Ly Thang Long, training and performing duties in the army is very hard, so often at the end of the day, lying down on the bed, he falls asleep immediately, sometimes holding bowls and chopsticks with trembling hands, not daring to dream of holding a pen. "The day I put my backpack on my shoulder, I determined that I might have to stop writing for at least two years or more, when my previous literary path had only just begun. But in the military environment, I wrote whenever I could, even in my most dreamy moments. In my shirt pocket, in my pants pocket, I always had pens and pieces of paper ready, I had to write every word...", Ly Thang Long shared.

Ly Thang Long said that he is expected to be discharged from the army before the Lunar New Year of the Horse in 2026. After completing his service, he will spend time traveling and writing books to gain more experiences before settling down. “Of course, all plans are relative and I rarely share my plans with anyone, including my family members, before they happen. Because life always has surprises, just like the way people end each chapter of a novel. If it goes astray, we can only use perseverance to rewrite it again. And that also requires a lot of courage,” Ly Thang Long expressed.

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ly-thang-long-chang-quan-nhan-tre-me-van-chuong-post806039.html