"Thirst for peace"

The Aspiration for Peace is an idea and theme that the Vietnam Writers Association is carrying out a literary work in 2024-2025, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification. The two localities chosen to carry out this work are Quang Tri province and Binh Duong commune, Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province, the two lands considered to have suffered the greatest loss and sacrifice during the war. In early 2024, a delegation of artists with 20 writers from 3 regions led by Chairman of the Writers Association Nguyen Quang Thieu went to Da Nang and Quang Nam to work in preparation for a book series called "Aspiration for Peace". The book is in the process of collecting articles and is expected to be released this year. Also within that policy, “Aspiration for Peace” volume 1 (Writers Association Publishing House) recently published by the Quang Tri Writers Association also has the meaning of promoting the Festival for Peace with the theme “Joining hands to build world peace” held for the first time in Quang Tri.

The book features more than 55 writers, poets, literary theorists, photographers, and journalists. These are famous Quang Tri poets and writers from the war such as Che Lan Vien, Hoang Phu Ngoc Tuong, Xuan Duc, Cao Hanh... to later authors such as Van Xuong, Nguyen Ngoc Chien, Vo Van Luyen, Nguyen Van Dung, Pham Xuan Hung...

Living and writing on a land of sorrow and loyalty, courage and heroism, Quang Tri literature expresses pride with a conviction that they “have the right to tell the whole nation and all of humanity about the “desire for peace”.

Because on this very land during the war years, the price of peace had to be paid in blood (Nguyen Quang Thieu). In prose, Hoang Phu Ngoc Tuong - a talented writer of memoirs, his pages written in the heart of his motherland are always full of emotions with a soaring, seductive language.

“Corridor of People and Wind” recounts a historical event of Hue students full of enthusiasm on the night of January 27, 1972, despite the obstruction from the South bank police force, holding torches up Hien Luong bridge, in the echo of “Long live Vietnam Peace” expressing the ultimate consciousness of peace and national unification.

Also events on the riverbank, the story of erecting the Flagpole on the riverbank (That flag in you, in me), was told by writer Xuan Duc with the nostalgia of memories about the process of organizing the erection of the flagpole on the North bank, despite countless difficulties, but still determined to keep the flag flying forever in the sky because it has a great political meaning.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, although not directly participating in the war in Quang Tri, with a responsible and conscientious perspective of a modern writer towards this sacred land, had a desire to take practical, strong and decisive actions to "organize a parade for peace with the participation of many writers in military uniforms" - people who deserve to be honored because they lived, fought and created literature for a peaceful life in the land of fire.

The memoirs of writers and journalists Van Cong Hung, Minh Tu, Luong Ngoc An, Le Duc Duc, Dao Tam Thanh, Pham Xuan Dung, Hoang Cong Danh... have reflected the arduous and heroic struggle of Quang Tri in the past with a sense of looking back in continuity with the peaceful reality of construction and development, expressing the pride and hope of Quang Tri in the future.

Journalists introduced landmarks, cultural, historical and economic relics, and action plans and targets to build Quang Tri into a city symbolizing peace.

The short stories of Cao Hanh, Nguyen Quang Lap, Suong Ngoc Minh, Nguyen Dinh Tu, Van Xuong, Nguyen Ngoc Chien, Nguyen Hai Yen, Nguyen Hiep... are set in fiery lands such as Quang Tri Citadel, Khe Sanh Road 9, Hien Luong - Ben Hai banks, Thach Han, Cam Lo, Con Co, Con Tien, Doc Mieu, Cua, Truong Son National Martyrs' Cemetery, the legendary Truong Son Road, Tan So Citadel, Provisional Revolutionary Government Area of the Republic of South Vietnam... during the painful war, with loss but still burning with a dream of peace, which has now become a reality.

In some short stories written close to the genre of memoirs, it is easy to understand because the reality of life in the land of fire, the sacrifice and loss is too great, the war is so fierce, has become an obsession with the fierce places of bombs and bullets in the past but people still love each other, warm affection, with tolerance, camaraderie, still ready to sacrifice for the Fatherland. Quang Tri's literature has spoken like a deep echo in the desire for peace, a desire of the whole nation.

In terms of poetry, the book also brings together many famous poets such as Che Lan Vien, Huu Thinh, Nguyen Duc Mau, Anh Ngoc, Vuong Trong, Hoang Vu Thuat, Tran Quang Dao... along with a number of poets who lived and fought in Quang Tri, including poets who passed through this land on their way to the South to fight.

Quang Tri has always been a source of abundant creative inspiration for writers. With a collection of poems (5 poems), it has introduced a portrait of Che Lan Vien's poetry in the depth of intelligence, full of emotions, thoughts, and feelings through the creative journey.

A Huu Thinh with poetic language full of metaphorical images, profound, warm, loving, passionate about memories, homeland, life... The next generation with poets Nguyen Huu Quy, Nguyen Van Dung, Vo Van Luyen, Vo Van Hoa, Xuan Loi, Nguyen Van Chuc... also has works rich in poetry, passionately loving the homeland. In the space and time close to war and peace, some poets have had perspectives looking back to the past with a sense of pride in the homeland and expressing their love for life on this land.

Although “The Desire for Peace” is mostly about war, a destructive and brutal war that the US and Saigon armies imposed on Quang Tri, the authors, through their writings, poems and prose, all express a spirit of humanity, benevolence and tolerance of the Vietnamese people.

The poem “Aspiration for Truong Son” by Nguyen Huu Quy is like a “summary” in poetic images when thinking about the war, with comrades who have fallen on Truong Son of “Ten thousand steles, ten thousand more/Ten thousand comrades scattered on Truong Son/Ten thousand remains have not returned to the incense smoke/Ten thousand lonely in the deserted land/Ten thousand lonely wandering in the forest”, in the burning dream of “Ten thousand aspirations to be together!”. And that is also the aspiration for peace of Quang Tri literature, a message of freedom, a peaceful life that wants to be sent to everyone, to the world.

Poet Nguyen Duy is a person who has many connections with Quang Tri. In 1968, while participating in the battle on the Khe Sanh front, Vay village, he read poetry from the Quang Tri front's information line to the editorial office of Van Nghe Newspaper.

This collection of poems was later published and won the Literature and Arts Newspaper Award, a valuable award at that time. The absence of Nguyen Duy in “Aspiration for Peace” is also a pity. But this is only the first volume, hopefully in the next volumes there will be poet Nguyen Duy and some other names in the Vietnamese literary world.

Ho Si Binh

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