A life of writing dedicated to childhood

On the day of the award ceremony, when I listened to the comments on my work, I was deeply impressed by her gentle, encouraging and suggestive reading voice. Later, when I worked at VOV, she became a regular collaborator in the children's art programs that I was in charge of, helping me understand more about her life and her writings.

Writer Le Phuong Lien in an exchange with children at the Reading with Children Club.

People of Hang Street

In her conversations with writer Le Phuong Lien, she often mentioned her grandmother, a Hanoi woman who used to live on Hang Bac Street. The street was once famous for its silver trade, associated with the saying: “A girl from Hang Bac is bitten in half”, expressing the discipline and thoughtfulness of Hanoi girls in the past. Memories of her grandmother’s demeanor and lifestyle were deeply imprinted in her mind and clearly influenced her personality and thinking.

“My family lived on the busiest street in Hanoi at that time, but their lifestyle was very simple. My grandmother, a native Hanoian, was widowed when she was in her early 30s, and single-handedly raised 7 children by trading. Her children were all educated and successful, her two sons were civil servants, her daughters were teachers. She knew very little but had a great literary background, she knew “The Tale of Kieu” by heart and often lulled her grandchildren to sleep with Kieu verses...” - writer Le Phuong Lien began the story about her grandmother like that.

Just like that, little Lien's childhood was spent living close to her grandmother, being cared for and taught by her. During the years of the resistance war against America, when she was a teenager, little Lien had to follow her grandmother to evacuate, and when her mother died early, her grandmother became even more of a spiritual support for Le Phuong Lien.

In the memory of writer Le Phuong Lien, her grandmother was always a typical Hanoi woman, in any circumstances, she still arranged a regular life for her family. No matter how difficult it was, whenever she went out, she always wore ao dai, and when she came back from the market, she always had sugarcane or rice paper in her hand as gifts for her grandchildren. That fairy-like grandmother also personally prepared delicious and attractive dishes such as salted eggs, shrimp paste, Northern-style fish soup, pickled vegetables, pickled eggplants, and made banh troi and banh chay on Han Thuc festival, then divided them into lunch boxes for her children to take home...

It was the years living with her beloved grandmother that shaped the way of life and thinking of writer Le Phuong Lien. Therefore, she always maintained her thoughtfulness, harmony, love and affection not only for her family but also for her students, colleagues and everyone around her.

Nurture a growing love of literature

During her years studying at Nguyen Du Primary School (Ly Thai To Street, Hoan Kiem), then studying at Trung Vuong Secondary School (Hang Bai Street, Hoan Kiem), Le Phuong Lien was always an excellent student (A1) and was awarded by Uncle Ho. At the age of 14, she left her childhood home on Hang Bac Street to evacuate and then studied at Thuan Thanh High School (Bac Ninh).

In the 1967-1968 school year, she won the Encouragement Prize in the Northern Literature Competition for Excellent Students. In 1971, she graduated with honors from the Mathematics - Physics Department of Hanoi Pedagogical College. The girl from Hang Street became a young teacher and was assigned to teach at Yen So Secondary School, Thanh Tri District, on the outskirts of Hanoi.

Since her years at Hanoi Pedagogical College, Le Phuong Lien has seriously nurtured her passion for writing. At the age of 18, she sent the manuscript of her short story “Courage” to Kim Dong Publishing House. In 1970, when she was a senior student, Kim Dong Publishing House introduced her to the Ministry of Education’s Literary Creation Camp.

It was here that the young future teacher wrote two works: the novella “The First Rays of Sunshine” (Kim Dong Publishing House, 1971) and the short story “Children’s Questions” - the latter work was awarded Second Prize (there was no First Prize) in the writing campaign about “Teachers and Socialist Schools”.

After becoming a teacher at Yen So Secondary School, the years of being attached to this suburban area became the inspiration for her to write the short story "Wild Flowers", first published in 2005 and republished in 2016.

Not stopping there, during her time teaching at Yen So Secondary School, she continued to write and had her short story “When Spring Comes” (1973) published by Kim Dong Publishing House. A year later, Le Phuong Lien officially became a member of the Hanoi Literature and Arts Association - the predecessor of the Hanoi Writers Association, now the Hanoi Literature and Arts Association.

She was then sent to study at the School for Young Writers organized by the Vietnam Writers Association. During this time, she wrote the short story “White Chalk Flower”, which was later published in the Literature and Arts Newspaper and won an Encouragement Prize in the 1975 short story contest.

The fact that a secondary school teacher continuously received many prestigious literary awards made the literary world at that time consider her a "phenomenon". After 9 years working at Yen So Secondary School, in 1980, Le Phuong Lien officially transferred to work at Kim Dong Publishing House, under the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, as an editor.

Just one year later, she was awarded the “For the Young Generation” Medal by the Central Youth Union for her two works “The First Rays of Sunshine” and “When Spring Comes”. In the same year, she became a member of the Vietnam Writers Association.

From 1995 to 2010, writer Le Phuong Lien held many important roles at the Vietnam Writers Association, serving as a member of the Children's Literature Committee, Deputy Head and then Head of the Children's Literature Committee, constantly contributing to the development of children's literature.

“Turn your eyes and mind toward beauty”

Looking back at the tireless contributions in teaching and literary creation of writer Le Phuong Lien, it can be seen that she always carries within her the spirit of learning and constantly moving forward.

In 1982, right after completing a training course in Psychology and Child Education in the German Democratic Republic, she passed the entrance exam and studied part-time at the Faculty of Literature - Hanoi University. Despite being busy with her professional work and family, she still worked hard to compose.

During the 1980s and 1990s, she published many collections of stories such as “White Chalk Flower”, “The Painting Still Drawn”, “Little Swallow”, and the novella “Wild Flowers”. Entering the 21st century, despite being over 50 years old, she still continues to explore and expand her creative scope.

Besides the traditional short story collections such as “The Day I Came to School” and “Autumn Stream”, she also tried her hand at novels and fantasy stories. Typical works of this period include: “The Song of Happiness”, “The Adventures of Uncle Puppet Teu”, and “The Thousand-Year-Old Banyan Tree and Three Children”.

In 2007, after leaving her editorial job at Kim Dong Publishing House, she continued to be involved in activities for children, holding the role of Executive Director of the "Doraemon Children's Education Support Fund" for nearly 20 years (1996 - 2015).

After retiring, she continued to hold many important positions in the Vietnam Writers Association: 5 years as a member of the Specialized Literature Committee (in charge of Children's Literature), 5 years as Permanent Deputy Head of the Children's Literature Committee, and from 2022 to present, a member of the Children's Literature Council.

At the age of 70, writer Le Phuong Lien released the historical novel "The Lady of the Windy Times" (Women's Publishing House), an important milestone in her tireless writing journey.

With the mindset of “directing one’s eyes and thoughts towards beauty”, writer Le Phuong Lien left behind pages of literature rich in poetry, kindness and full of love for nature and people. She once shared: “For me, nature is the support for the soul. In all my works, I let people harmonize with nature, the earth and sky”.

In 2025, at the age of 74, writer Le Phuong Lien is still writing diligently and actively participating in activities of the Vietnam Writers Association. She also regularly updates her thoughts, feelings, and beautiful moments of nature on her personal page.

Having devoted her whole life to children's literature, the precious gift that writer Le Phuong Lien received in return was a soul that was still youthful, intelligent, gentle, and pure, and the pages of literature that always accompanied her through the years of her life...

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nha-van-le-phuong-lien-mot-doi-van-danh-tron-cho-tuoi-tho-697402.html