Introduction
Nguyễn Nhật Ánh is a Vietnamese writer widely known for his works for adolescents. Over more than 40 years of writing, he has left behind a vast literary career with many works that have stayed with readers across generations.
Career and activities
His first work was published by NXB Măng Non (the predecessor of NXB Trẻ), titled Trước vòng chung kết, in 1985. From then on, most of his works were published by NXB Trẻ, except for the Kính vạn hoa series, which was printed by NXB Kim Đồng.
On the morning of 5.1.2021, in TP.HCM, writer Nguyễn Nhật Ánh and NXB Trẻ signed a copyright contract with a term of 5 years (from 2021 to 2025) for 47 of his 49 existing works. The list includes many familiar works such as Phòng trọ ba người, Quán gò đi lên, Thằng quỷ nhỏ, Thiên thần nhỏ của tôi, Trại hoa vàng, Út Quyên và tôi, Người Quảng đi ăn mì Quảng, Sương khói quê nhà, Thương nhớ Trà Long, Cho tôi xin một vé đi tuổi thơ, Lá nằm trong lá, Ngồi khóc trên cây, Bảy bước tới mùa hè, Cây chuối non đi giày xanh, Tôi là Bê tô, Chuyện xứ Lang Biang (4 volumes). Two titles, Kính vạn hoa and Đảo mộng mơ, were also signed with NXB Trẻ in eBook versions.
Among his works, two have been translated into foreign languages: I see yellow flowers in the green grass and Ticket to childhood. Several works have been adapted into films, such as Mắt biếc, Tôi thấy hoa vàng trên cỏ xanh, Cô gái đến từ hôm qua.
The work Cho tôi xin một vé đi tuổi thơ was first published by NXB Trẻ on 1.2.2008, and by 2020 it had been reprinted nearly 70 times with over 400,000 copies sold, making it the best-selling book of this publisher for two consecutive years, 2017-2018. The book has been translated into Thai (NXB Nanmee Books, 2011), Korean (NXB Dasan Books, 2013), English (NXB Overlook Press, 2014), and Japanese (NXB Nikkei, 2020). The Japanese version is 365 pages long, translated by two translators, Hiromi Ito and Sakae Kato, and printed together with the novella Đi qua hoa cúc.
In Japan, besides Cho tôi xin một vé đi tuổi thơ, he also has two works that have been translated and published: Mắt biếc (NXB Terrainc, 2004) and Tôi thấy hoa vàng trên cỏ xanh (NXB Canaria, 2017).
Main milestones
In 1990, the novella Chú bé rắc rối was awarded the Văn học Trẻ prize, class A, by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. In 1995, he was voted the most beloved writer of 20 years (1975-1995) and was selected by the Ho Chi Minh City Writers' Association as one of the 20 outstanding young writers of 20 years (1975-1995). In 2010, the work Cho tôi xin một vé đi tuổi thơ was awarded the ASEAN Literature Prize. In 2017, he received 10 Best seller awards from NXB Trẻ at the same time.
At the 2021 signing ceremony, he said he planned to release a new book in the fairy tale genre for young readers.