The short story collection “The Old House by the Stream” by Cao Duy Son has been nominated for the Southeast Asian Writers Award. Son talked about the book.

How did you feel when you were informed about the book nomination?

I was very surprised. I had the same feeling when I was informed that the book won the prize from the Viet Nam Writers Association last year. I have thought for a long time that writing is the way to talk with myself. Writing also is the way to release my own energy. I did not expect to become famous or receive any prize.

Which of your books do you like the most?

I have published four books, including The Old House by the Stream, Hoa Man Do (Red Plum Flower), Nguoi Lang Thang (The Wanderer), and Dan Troi (Heaven’s Musical Instrument). I am most satisfied by The Old House by the Stream, because the 200-page book contains all my concerns and thoughts.

What do you want to express through the book, in which all the stories are about the mountainous area of Cao Bang?

Cao Bang is the place where I was born and raised with many sweet childhood memories. Those stories present the simple beauty and cultural features of the area. It can be said the area has found its place in Vietnamese literature through the prize given by the Viet Nam Writers Association.

However, writing should be considered as part of the lifelong journey of every writer. It’s not until a writer passes away that people will know which book is the best in his writing career.

You built your reputation with short stories, but you chose to write a novel first. Why?

My first novel is The Wanderer, which was published by the Writers Association’s Publishing House. The idea for the book came out in 1989, when I studied at the Nguyen Du Creative Writing School. But when the book was almost finished, I decided to rewrite it to include many new details and with a new writing style. Although I have written other novels, I never had as much energy to write again as I had when writing The Wanderer.

My latest book called Chom Ba Nha (The Group of Three Houses) will be released this month. It took me three years to complete.

Do you have any intention to branch out and write about people from another region?

Ethnic and mountainous people are one of thousands of topics. Exploring and portraying people and their lives from different angles is the task of every writer. Life in Ha Noi or in any other region should be an inspiration for writing. It might be challenging for me to transfer vividly the tempo of that life into words, but it is worth trying. If I fail in exploring a new topic, then I can know about my writing disadvantages; then I can make good come out of that disadvantage.

You have won several prizes thanks to stories featuring ethnic and mountainous people. If you keep exploring the theme, will you run out of inspiration for new stories?

In my opinion, losing inspiration is not a problem with the theme, but with the writer himself. However, creativity is finite.

Trying to come up with a new way to explore a theme, escape from the familiar writing style and create a new style is always a desire of every writer, including myself.

VietNamNet/VNS