Thoughts of today's book writers...

 On the occasion of Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day (April 21) and World Book and Copyright Day (April 23), TG&VN Newspaper had a conversation with author Luu Dinh Long - founder of May Thong Book Coffee. Dong, to better understand the difficulties of book writers facing the challenge of the digital technology boom...

In the digital age with all sorts of other attractions, people are worried that the reading habit will be lost, especially among young people, are you so pessimistic yourself?

I also have the same concerns. However, I don't call it pessimism but we have to recognize the reality that is happening to reading culture.

I just read information that Vice President of the Vietnam Publishing Association Le Hoang raised at a conference on the book publishing industry, asserting that the reading power of Vietnamese people is still very low compared to other countries in the region.

Thoughts of modern book writers...

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Author Luu Dinh Long. (Photo: NVCC)

Accordingly, Mr. Le Hoang cited the data for 5 years (2014-2019) to assess that the growth rate of the Vietnamese book market is very slow (the number of copies of books printed increased by 19%, the number of books issued increased only 16%), the revenue is also very low and too small compared to other commodity markets, even smaller than the book market of other countries (in 2021, the publishing industry's revenue is VND 2,996 billion, developing is 2,900 billion VND).

There are no specific statistics, but if you observe, you will see that young people who own smartphones prefer to watch Tiktok, go to social networks rather than read books. Shopping, movie and entertainment centers are always crowded with young people, but bookstores or book streets are often empty.

In fact, this is due to the fact that the reading habits of Vietnamese people, who are not many, are now attracted by many audio-visual products in the digital age, so it is difficult to avoid the above fact.

As a freelance writer and author of many books, what do you think of your readers, as well as share the difficulties of today's book writers?

My readers are quite diverse, from the young to the elderly. Perhaps because the content I write is not specific to an age group, but rather short paragraphs and heartfelt words to talk about suffering and pain, and how to overcome it. I am fortunate to have access to the practice, transformation of suffering and pain from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and partly help me overcome difficulties, so I want to share that.

Therefore, the readers who have chosen my books and liked them are probably also… from school, towards peace of mind in life and soul.

Regarding the difficulty of the current writer in my opinion… not many readers because as mentioned in the previous section, the reading power of Vietnamese people is still very low compared to other countries in the region, even so, they are still being collected. attracted by other audiovisual cultures.

That is a common difficulty, and a particular difficulty is not finding unique content, novel ways of expression, suitable for today's young readers.

We are actively encouraging and promoting the development of cultural studies, but what must be done to make these programs and activities really effective, becoming a real movement, not a formality?

In order for reading culture to develop, I think about the cooperation of everyone, not just any organization or just the work of the book industry.

Specifically, in addition to regularly organizing reading festivals as is being held today, in every family, parents must read books and encourage their children to read together.

Since the image of the child in the mother's womb, he has been able to read books with him, creating that habit when reading to him every night. I believe, a child must be brought up in the womb to have good habits and a beautiful personality.

At school, there should also be regular reading classes, organizing book-related contests like “reviewing my book” or “telling a story in a book”… I know, there are many teachers who rarely read books. Many school libraries have very few teachers and students coming to borrow books.

This may be because the teaching and learning program is heavy on grades, achievements with rigid standards, so teachers and learners only focus on completing tasks from textbooks, not expanding from reference books. relate to.

If reading criteria can be made as one of the contents of assessing teaching and learning achievement (compulsory) in school, I think reading will be improved even more.

For example, in addition to teaching, teachers and students should also read 5-10 books a year, considering it as one of the scoring columns to evaluate teaching and learning capacity. Gradually, the habit of reading books will form, not just calling for self-discipline.

Being the founder of May Thong Dong Book Coffee, can you share specific ideas and activities from this project?

May Thong Dong is both a book coffee brand, where readers can go there to relax and find a small book on the shelf at the shop, reading for as long as they want.

It is also a project on communication and spreading reading culture, connecting young authors so that they too can easily publish a book through the "Books and Life" bookcase.