Επιμέλεια συνέντευξης: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Translated into English by JyKhanh
Her biography: Dang Nguyet Anh – born 1948 in Nam Dinh, Viet Nam. She graduated from University of Education, Faculty of Linguistics. During the Anti-American Resistance War, she entered the battlefield for 4 years. After the liberation, she taught literature at Marie-Curie High School in Ho Chi Minh City. She has published 14 books of poetry. Her collection of poems “The heart not knowing to kneel” was published globally by Ukiyoto Publishing House in Canada in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish.
Dear Honorable Poet, please share your thoughts about the pandemic and the future of literature after the pandemic. The pandemic is a disaster for all of humanity. It destroys every aspect of social life. Especially it took millions of souls! It is an invisible enemy that is extremely dangerous. It leaves insurmountable sequelae on the human body. The pandemic has robbed us of many writers and poets! Literature will also help us to recover, but it needs time.
The Good and the Bad, who is winning in nowadays? Let’s talk about the good and the bad of current literature. Most writers today are free to be creative. They are also equipped with basic cultural and scientific knowledge. But most of them rely on books and information on the internet. They rarely experience real life in all aspects, so their works have little real – life experience. Of course, the victory belongs to the young people: They are smart, creative, dynamic, responsive, pioneering, brave.
Tell us where inspiration is coming from for you? The main source of inspiration is life and books. It is an inexhaustible store of knowledge that can never be fully exploited. Life includes the present, the past, and the future: there is history, tradition, customs, culture, fine customs, and very simple everyday things. Not only of our people, but also of humanity. Along with books – faithful friends, greatest teachers. Each book opens a horizon. “If I have power, I will take the books and spread them all over the surface of the earth, as rice is sown in furrows” (Mann Horace). Precious books give me a lot of emotions.
Are the people reading books or no? Currently, people are still reading books. But there is competition between e-books and printing (traditional) books. Most young people have prefered using e-books.
How many books have you written? And where can we find your books? Up to now, I have published 13 printed books of poems in Vietnam and abroad. One of them was published by Ukiyoto Publishing House (Canada) with the title “The heart not knowing to kneel” in English-Vietnamese bilingual. It was released worldwide in January 2023. And then this book has been translated into 3 more languages: French, German, Spanish, also released worldwide. In order for the world’s readers to access their poetry, it is best to advertise, introduce, and published poetry abroad. Sincere thanks to friends in Vietnam and abroad for being a bridge connecting my poetry and works by some Vietnamese authors to world readers.
Do you believe that our life, our destiny is written or we can change it? Everyone is born with a number – called fate! So in Vietnam (including China), there is Horoscope. But people must live actively, cannot depend on fate. If you wait, the result will be “0”. But it must be with strong will to change fate. “Take your destiny in the storm!” The great poet Nguyen Du in the famous Tale of Kieu also wrote: “In the past, there were many people who intended to win over God”. It’s a strong belief.
Religion is the cause of many wars – a lot of people they say that. What do you think? Religion has had tragic and bloody Holy Wars. Currently, Christianity is a religion with a large number of followers, accounting for one-third of the global population (According to the statistics of “Time Almanach 2001). Judaism and Islam are also notable forces. Not to mention the Vatican Church, which is the richest church in the world today, with trillions of dollars in assets. Humanity still has to worry about the conflicts between religions in the future!
Money brings happiness? Money is necessary but not sufficient condition for people to be happy. Human must live in a clean, healthy environment of nature and society, in the warmth, love and sharing of the community. People may be a little lacking, a little hungry, a little cold, but they will feel very happy if they are loved and cared for by those around them. And I also want to share back this quote with everyone: “One for everyone”.
The book. E book or Hardcover book. What will be the future? E-books and printed books. In the near future, these two types of books are still at odds with each other. But for advanced countries with strong development of science and technology, e-books soon gained the upper hand. In the future, e-books will be more popular. For less developed countries, printed books still have to be saved.
What do you think about the year of technology? Are we lost ourselves inside the mobile phone, the computers… Years of technology, people do not disappear in devices such as smartphones and computers. But it has absorbed too much of people’s material time, even some people spend 8-9/10 of the day holding phones, getting drunk, addicted to phones, consuming a lot of time and energy. Sometimes neglect work, sometimes forget work, especially young people are too depended on devices. Of course, its benefits are enormous. It’s also important to watch out for cybercrime-scams.
Environmental issues. Is the progress the technology and the humans are responsible for all this disaster? Why?Regarding the environment, of course, humans are primarily responsible for environmental disasters, because they are all caused by humans. Burning forests, destroying forests, blocking natural flows to make hydropower, irrigation… And the terrible amount of waste every day around the planet… Then factories release toxic substances into the environment, the smoke pollutes the ozone layer. Plus traffic smog. People sometimes feel suffocated. Humans must take full responsibility for their acts of destroying the environment. Urgent measures must be taken to save our green planet!
A wish for 2023? My wish for 2023: Have a peaceful humanity! All nations, all ethnicities, all religions are equal, united, live in love, forgiveness, and sharing. Do not hold grudges. Never create war. Actively prevent epidemics, do not let catastrophes recur like Covid-19.
One poem by Dang Nguyet Anh:
GENIUS SEED
I asked for some genius seeds
Bringing seeds outside the planet
Lately we would see each other
Then asked again for some beautiful seeds to plant.
