Lu Hong and the journey to extend beauty in the vastness of the human world

(GLO)- Lu Hong is a familiar writer in the mountainous town of Pleiku, leaving an impression on readers through many genres of writing. Recently, she has continuously achieved success with 2 literary awards.

Lu Hong's full name is Nguyen Lu Thu Hong, born in 1992 in Pleiku City (old), Gia Lai Province. Photo: Van Phi

Accordingly, the two awards she just won are the poetry prize at the Binh Dinh province poetry and short story contest 2024-2025 (awarded on June 25) and the short story prize at the Van Nghe Newspaper short story contest 2022-2024 (awarded on July 24).

Lu Hong has published the following books: One Morning Awakening (poetry, 2017); Waiting for the Fog in the Street (essay, 2020); The Window Still Has Lights (poetry, 2024).

Like fragrant grass taking root in the soul

Lu Hong came to literature from the quiet verses born in the misty land of Pleiku, where the light from the small window shines out gently and warmly, allowing the verses to penetrate people's hearts with pure emotions, full of love and trust. Her poems are filled with the feelings of a person walking in life, always longing to live a poetic life in the midst of a chaotic world .

In that world, the reader seems to feel in Lu Hong's poetry the smell of the flickering wine smoke of the mountain town night, the smell of the cold wind and rain in the highlands, the warmth of mother's cooking, and the pain of time: The hammock mother lies in/the hammock of the world with two windy ends/the kitchen with a few shelves/and a dinner that saves/the days we live like a waterfall in the dry season (Inside the City).

Lu Hong is a person who not only loves poetry but also knows how to live with poetry, as a way to stay alive in the face of human changes. When writing the poem Vong, which won the consolation prize at the Poetry and Short Story Contest of Binh Dinh province in 2024-2025, she could not hide her emotions. The poet confided: Because I have loved the coastal land for a long time, anything about this place, from the scenery to the people, easily makes me emotional. And poetry needs emotion the most. Of course, emotion is what awakens the emotion so that I can speak.

Author Lu Hong (3rd from left) received the award at the 2024-2025 Binh Dinh Province Poetry and Short Story Contest. Photo: Van Phi

The poem Vong was written with such inspiration, from a quiet afternoon visiting Thap Thap Pagoda - a historical relic that still bears the mark of the times after many changes. It is not by chance that I submit this poem to the poetry contest of Binh Dinh Literature and Arts. It must be a connection, a meeting, a predestined fate.

Lu Hong's poetry is not meant to impress, but to live truthfully. A life full of hidden streams of love, quiet but passionate. She does not try to innovate poetry as a heavy mission, but lets poetry grow like fragrant grass from the soil of the soul, sympathizing with the reader.

Talking to me, Lu Hong confided: "In my heart, I want everyone to live poetically in this profound world, as a writer once wrote. Maybe that's why I love poetry, enjoy writing poetry, and respect poets. For those who choose poetry as their companion, I wish them to become richer and more experienced in life to unleash their hidden talent and strength. As for me, I hope to extend my faith in true poetry, even if it is filled with immense sadness...".

Write to live more deeply, more slowly and more beautifully.

Lu Hong does not consider writing as a commitment, but as a silent gift to life. She writes to be “a little deeper, a little slower and more beautiful”. Not only poetry, short stories are also a creative field that Lu Hong has been quietly experimenting with since 2017.

Lu Hong confided: "I started writing stories in 2017, which was also the time I started collaborating with Gia Lai Newspaper (now Gia Lai Newspaper and Radio and Television). At that time, the newspaper had a weekend short story column whose content was directly selected and edited by journalist Phuong Duyen. After a while, the column was temporarily suspended, but the idea of continuing to write stories was still burning in me.

Even now, my collection of short stories has only stopped at a few. That means, in the realm of short stories, I have just started. Besides poetry, finding short stories is also a way for me to explore and awaken my mind. Because I know, in the end, writing is the only way for me to extend my relationship with literature, with what is beautiful and bright."

Author Lu Hong (third from right) received fourth prize at the Van Nghe Newspaper short story contest.
Photo: NVCC

Lu Hong called it her start in another literary realm. Until her short story Broken Mountain won the fourth prize of the Literature and Arts Newspaper, she still kept herself humble: "With short stories, I'm just starting out!"

The story Broken Mountain is not based on any specific model but is made up of life experiences, especially the experiences of a teacher in the Central Highlands with many scratches. The story has a true detail: A teacher came to persuade his students to go to class, while waiting because he was so hungry, he broke off a green banana to fill his stomach. A small detail but real and touching, naturally woven into the touching story in her work.

Lu Hong shared: “People like that are present in our lives, I think they are a fragrant flower blooming among the weeds. Life gets more and more sad every day but also warmer because we know how to believe in love.”

With more than ten years of writing, author Lu Hong always believes that pure literature is not for those who are always looking for vanity. She also believes that, on the path of literature, writers gain more than they lose, at least they have more joy in life.

Fully aware of that, Lu Hong always reminded herself to avoid being fascinated by the clatter of words, she focused on emotions and ideas, which are considered the core values of literature. Amidst the passionate expressions, she chose a different path: quiet, slow but persistent in reflecting with herself.

Lu Hong chose literature as a place to return to and considered it a real life. A life where the writer does not need to speak loudly, just needs to be real and have enough faith, enough emotion, enough love to continue writing, extending the beauty in the vastness of the human world.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/lu-hong-va-hanh-trinh-noi-dai-cai-dep-trong-menh-mang-coi-nguoi-post563937.html