Literary creation camps flourish: Lack of innovation in models

In a short period of time, literary writing camps have been organized from North to South, aiming to create conditions for writers to create and search for quality, worthy works. However, from desire to reality, questions have been raised about the organizational model of current writing camps.

Authors' meeting place

From August 17 to 27, the Army Literature Magazine organized a writing camp “Literature on the armed forces and revolutionary war” in Dak Lak province, with the participation of 14 writers, poets, and critical theorists from many regions across the country. This is the second writing camp this year of the Army Literature Magazine after the writing camp “Literature on the revolutionary war and soldiers” in Lam Dong in June this year.

Authors attending the writing camp “Literature on the armed forces and revolutionary war” taking place in Dak Lak province. Photo: PHUONG TRA

Also in August, from August 5 to 14, the Vietnam Writers Association organized a literary writing camp in Can Tho City, gathering 15 authors from across the country. From August 1 to 15, in Khanh Hoa, the writing camp "Armed Forces and Revolutionary War" was organized by the People's Army Publishing House in coordination with the Center for Supporting Literary and Artistic Creation (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). From August 8 to 12, the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association organized a writing camp in Lam Dong for 22 authors. Previously, in February and April, the Children's Literature Council of the Vietnam Writers Association organized children's literature writing camps in Lam Dong and Nghe An, respectively...

This summer, writer Le Vi Thuy (currently living and working in Gia Lai , member of the Vietnam Writers Association) participated in 3 writing camps of the Army Literature Magazine, the Vietnam Writers Association and the camp of Duong Van publication. “Whether I participate or not, I still write. However, participating in writing camps is an opportunity and an interesting experience when going to lands that I have not been to such as Tam Dao, the Southwest... Such trips bring me a lot of emotions when writing”, writer Le Vi Thuy shared.

According to writer Nguyen Binh Phuong, Editor-in-Chief of the Army Literature Magazine and Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association, writing camps are organized to create conditions for writers, poets, and literary critics to arrange for themselves a period of time, although not long, but dedicated to writing. “10-15 days is enough for an author to start writing what they are cherishing, or to complete an unfinished work. In addition, writing camps are also an opportunity to meet and exchange between writers, poets, and critics from different regions of the country. Literary creation is a lonely journey, the further you go, the deeper and more bumpy it becomes, so sometimes writers also want to meet colleagues to exchange, confide, share, and encourage each other to continue,” writer Nguyen Binh Phuong added.

Change the way of investing soon

Recently, in Hanoi, the Center for Supporting Literary and Artistic Creation (VHNT) held a ceremony to announce "Representative literary and artistic works and projects created at the Creation Houses organized by the Center for Supporting Literary and Artistic Creation in the period 2017-2022". Accordingly, in the period 2017-2022, the center coordinated with many units to organize 338 comprehensive creative camps and 64 turns of artists to create in depth. There were 5,555 turns of artists participating in the creative camps, creating 19,157 works; of which, the literary genre had an outstanding number with nearly 10,000 works.

However, among the nearly 10,000 literary works born from writing camps, how good are they and which works have been published, not everyone knows. Writer Tram Huong, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association, said that organizing annual literary writing camps shows the Party and State's concern for artists. And this is the right of the members, an opportunity for artists to meet, exchange and share writing work with each other, thereby inspiring each other to write. However, those writing camps are not a vital factor in creating works, but the most important thing is that the author must be passionate about the topic he cherishes, devote himself, and delve into life to find material for his writings.

From that reality, writer Tram Huong believes that it is necessary to change the way of investing. “Instead of investing horizontally like now, I think it is time for us to think about investing in depth. Instead of inviting 20-30 people to participate in a writing camp for 10-15 days, now we will focus on 10-20 works according to the state-ordered method. I believe that with that mechanism, every year there will be quality works reaching readers,” writer Tram Huong expressed.

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/no-ro-trai-sang-tac-van-hoc-thieu-doi-moi-ve-mo-hinh-post810034.html