Hien Trang is a writer of the 9X generation with diverse works from short stories, novels to essays on art. In 2022, Hien Trang went to the US to participate in the "International Writing Program" (IWP) program of the University of Iowa - one of 33 writers from 33 countries and territories.
“If all I had were words” can be considered an art diary that Hien Trang recorded from her experiences and feelings during the honor of participating in IWP.
Hien Trang's journey in this book can be seen as a slow film, to dialogue with literature and art, thinking about the relationship between literature and art and this life.
"If all I have are words", writer Hien Trang will take readers to the endless world of art - to gradually unravel the stories "behind the scene" of a writer and Completely rejects the stereotype that "low-world literature is dirt cheap".
“I chose to tell the most meaningful thing to me, luckily also the most meaningful thing to Iowa, which is literature. In that story, Iowa is like a character, a man and woman, who pulled me in and gave me space and time to dialogue with literature" - said writer Hien Trang.
The writer always considers himself a literary apprentice, a rough worker in the craft of writing or a writer with all his flaws and limitations. The author himself once admitted that he was quite confused, even reserved, when answering about his "writer's profession".
Writing, like all other professions, requires a warrior's spirit in the constant battle of doubt: Everyone has fears about being stuck in the middle of repetitive, underwritten days. the shadows of great writers or the fear of struggling with words.
Readers will be easily surprised by chapters like "Common Misery and Private Toothache" that dissect the contradictions, to see that literature sometimes does not need to be higher than a diary or impressive when borrowing the image of "snake". Eat your tail" - writers tend to shrink into their own stories, on the other hand, do not underestimate the secret folds of a person's life.
Without painting a rose garden before the readers' eyes in the pages of "If all I had were words" but readers were completely convinced by Hien Trang's rich knowledge and experience through the evidence. sturdy, famous names and guaranteed works.
And there are many behind-the-scenes stories to see how literature permeates every breath of life, and everyone can become a writer in their own unique path.
Literature is desire. The writer has the incomparable power and happiness of an artistic creator as the writer said that, in America, the elderly pay for literature as an investment.
For writer Hien Trang, there are thousands of ways for readers to start with literature, consider literature as natural as breathing, creeping into every smallest activity of the day and inherently, literature is not a distant world. Strangely, literature exists in all the simple things like our breath every moment. No topic is trivial or trivial, even if it is a fleeting emotion...
If all I have is words, it is not a dictionary of language or literature or art, this is the author's journey of finding literature to inspire readers.
On this occasion, Kim Dong publishing house organized a meeting and conversation with writer Hien Trang with the topic "Young words facing the world". The program with the participation of writer of the 9X generation Huynh Trong Khang will be held at 9:00 a.m. on August 18 at Book Street in Ho Chi Minh City.
