Poet Truong Anh Tu: In poetry there is always a voice for the Fatherland

Truong Anh Tu is a familiar name in the domestic literary world, and is considered by readers to be one of the overseas authors whose poems have been published most in newspapers and magazines in Vietnam. Although he has lived and worked abroad for more than 30 years, he still has a deep love for his homeland and country through his poems.

Poet Truong Anh Tu.

On the occasion of introducing his poetry collection White Clouds and Mother's Hair, published by Kim Dong Publishing House, poet Truong Anh Tu shared with Dong Nai Weekend the things he wants to convey through literature.

Poetry comes naturally from all aspects of life.

🔴 Dear poet Truong Anh Tu, what is special about your path to poetry?

- My family loves poetry. And poetry came to me naturally, since I was in school. Later, when I went abroad to work, I wrote more and started to have my first works published in newspapers since the 1990s, as a personal need. Poetry and music to me are the voice of the heart, the emotion, the soul. I am a technical person and after work, when I come home, poetry is like a medicine to heal the soul, to balance life and through that express my heart from what I see and hear every day.

🔴 What is your opinion on the difference between literature and real life?

- For me, the material of literature is life. The reality of life will contribute to the construction of literature in that era. If the writer does not attach himself to the breath of contemporary life in which he participates, it will be very difficult to have good works. For me, the reality of life is the good source of inspiration for poetic creation. The voice of the times means writing and thinking about things that are living with the breath of life. Write with sweat, with the hands of workers. Open your heart to write what life needs us to, write to bring good spirits to life.

For writers and poets like us, the important thing is to write meaningful works of life, to help life and people reach good things. Ultimately, to contribute to making society better and more humane.

🔴 It is not easy to do so. Do you have anything to share with writers, especially young writers today?

- A person who wants to write well needs to nurture a love for life. And to nurture that love, they need to believe in justice, as well as look far, wide, and deep into the flow of life around them, blending with nature and people. From there, the writer will form his own language and soul.

Through words, writers convey their messages to society. Thanks to literature, we understand society better. The realities of society reflected in literature are not just copied as is, but are selective, through the lens of each person. Extract the essence, so that the work soars with life, to bring intellectual and emotional messages to people with true artistic beauty. This is what young people need to observe, write them down with their own thoughts, reflections, and feelings, and they will certainly succeed.

Fatherland is always in the heart

🔴 Having lived abroad for more than 30 years, since he was very young, he has always had a deep love for his homeland through his poems. How has Truong Anh Tu been able to maintain that purity?

- I left Vietnam when I was over 20 years old and have lived in Germany for over 30 years. That means I have lived in Germany almost twice as long as I have lived in Vietnam. Wherever I am, whatever I do, I feel completely natural to be Vietnamese. I was born and raised in Vietnam, my homeland, like my mother.

Living abroad, having a space to look back at the Fatherland, I feel more attached to my homeland and country. Wherever I am, I always feel the Fatherland in my heart. Wherever I go on this earth, when I look back, I always see behind me the Fatherland, the familiar homeland.

This year, our country has just witnessed two great events: the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification and the 80th anniversary of National Day. We have seen the appeal of the people through these meaningful events.

I, like most Vietnamese people living far away from home, always turn to the Fatherland with all my love and concerns. What we do and where we are is not important, let us turn to the best things about people and the Fatherland. Therefore, the Motherland and the Fatherland are always the most important things, containing the contributions and sacrifices of generations of Vietnamese people.

🔴 The country, as we see, is renewing and developing every day. What do you expect from that development?

- That is a very good thing, Vietnam has been growing strongly in all aspects, integrating with the world. I hope that my country will continue to "internationalize" in many fields, to increasingly integrate and develop with the world , so that the children of Vietnam, wherever they are, can find their Fatherland.

🔴 You recently had the opportunity to introduce the poetry collection Mother's White Clouds and Hair to readers at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street. The poetry collection was republished by Kim Dong Publishing House just a few months after its first printing. How do you feel?

Poet Truong Anh Tu signed books for readers at the introduction of the poetry collection White Clouds and Mother's Hair.

- I am very happy that my works are well received by domestic readers, and that newspapers invite me to collaborate and look forward to it. It is a great joy that many of my poems reach readers of all ages. And I believe that readers of all ages can find meaning, joy, and messages in those poems depending on their language ability and perception.

Poet Truong Anh Tu (born in 1967, in Hanoi) currently lives and works in Germany. He has many works published in the domestic literary world. Some of the published poetry collections include: Emotions, The seasons of flowers he said, Morning flowers, Mother's white clouds. He is one of the overseas Vietnamese authors whose works have been introduced in the domestic press. Some of his poems have been used as research materials, teaching Vietnamese to foreign students and have been selected for general textbooks in Vietnam.

Mother's White Clouds and Hair is also the theme poem of the collection. The poem not only talks about the physical love for mother but through it, I share about the motherland. For me, poetry is both a mother in flesh and blood and a motherland. Mother's White Clouds and Hair is considered poetry for children but everyone is its reader and besides poetry for children, I also write about many other topics. Through literature and poetry, I have the opportunity to meet international friends and when my works are introduced at universities, it is also an opportunity to introduce the culture, country, and Fatherland of Vietnam. That is a happiness that is not easy to have.

🔴 Thank you!

Vuong The (performed)

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/van-hoa/202509/nha-tho-truong-anh-tu-trong-tho-luon-co-tieng-long-ve-to-quoc-79e078e/