On April 21, within the framework of Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day 2024, at Cong Xa Paris Square (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), an exchange program took place with writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, Ho Chi Minh City Reading Culture Ambassador 2024-2025. The event was organized by the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City in coordination with Tre Publishing House and attracted the attention of many readers.
At the program, writer Nguyen Nhat Anh expressed his joy at having the opportunity to chat with readers and share his creative story as well as spread his love for books to the community, especially young readers.
Answering the question of how to sow and inspire a love of reading in young readers, according to writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, this requires resonance and influence from many sides, and first of all, the role of the family. He explained: “In the family, if parents care about their children's reading or parents like reading, the love and passion for books will automatically be passed on to their children and grow over time. Because in my opinion, children are usually influenced by adults, especially their parents. If a child grows up in a good cultural environment, with a reading culture, for example, parents like to read or have a bookshelf, the child can grow up and inherit the passion for books from there and cultivate it. Or when we go to book festivals, we will be surrounded by books, from one booth to another. Every time we choose, flip through a book, look at the cover, the illustrations and smell the new paper. Those things resonate and create in us a love for books.”
In addition, the writer also believes that parents and adults in the family can encourage their children to read by buying good books for their children and grandchildren on holidays and birthdays, helping them form the habit of reading from an early age.
“With the message of the book festival, each citizen is an ambassador of reading culture. That is completely true for our society. Not only in the scope of individuals and families, but also from the perspective of creators, I think we writers and journalists will try to write good, engaging books to bring readers closer to books. On the side of publishing houses, units will select and publish attractive works, convey meaningful messages to the community and limit the spread of fake books. In society, if library systems are developed, bookcases are built in remote areas, this will help children in difficult areas have the opportunity to access books and expand their knowledge. These are all actions from individuals, organizations, and communities to widely spread the love for books and contribute to creating an interest in reading for children,” writer Nguyen Nhat Anh shared.
“Books play a very special role in people’s spiritual life. They are different from a pair of sandals to wear or a car to drive. Although they are both material products, the difference between books and sandals and cars lies in the spiritual value that books carry. Books help people improve their knowledge, enrich their souls, mature emotionally and sharpen their moral ideas through stories and we will love the good characters and hate the bad characters in the stories,” writer Nguyen Nhat Anh confided.
Sharing about his chance to come to books and nurture his dream of becoming a writer, author Nguyen Nhat Anh shared that during his childhood, the poor countryside where he lived had very few books. When adults went to the city, they would occasionally buy a few books for their children, so books were rare and if they wanted to read books, their friends at home would exchange books for each other to read together. Therefore, reading books was very difficult.
“When my father took me to a bookstore in the city at the age of 14, it was the first time I entered a bookstore and knew that there was a place in the world that gathered so many books. I felt like I was entering a very splendid, majestic and sacred temple filled with books. I walked cautiously and did not dare to breathe heavily… That was my happiness in the book paradise. Currently, young people, especially in big cities, can easily access many large and small bookstores and have book festivals like that. For me, this is a great happiness and luck,” he added.
At the same time, the author said that he has always cherished the dream of becoming a writer since childhood and if he does not become a writer when he grows up, he will try to be a bookstore owner to always be attached to books. Talking about the inspiration and materials for his works, writer Nguyen Nhat Anh shared: “To build interesting, attractive stories, containing many lessons and no two stories are the same, I think that is a quality and potential that a writer needs. The three sources of material for me to write my works are: memories from my experiences, observations and imagination. Although separated into 3 sources, when composing, I apply and combine them together to create stories that are close, creative and meaningful”.
THANH TRUC
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