I met Phan Ngoc Tram at Sunday’s launch of her bilingual book “Carp Diem”.  Different to her appearance with a fair complexion and tender look, Tram proved as a girl with great passion for writing as the main character named My in her book. Tram told me that when she was young, she used to keep a diary, but added some blogging elements because she would show it to her classmates.

“In order to entertain them I would include illustrations, make comments, and insert sound effects. My desire to entertain people can be seen in my character My,” Tram said and went on, “ When I was a child, I wanted to create a story that would be read by everyone, that everyone would love, and it would become a masterpiece. I would envision myself as a genius writer, but I was a child and so I created things that were uniquely and childishly mine. My also creates something uniquely hers.”

Tram not only wrote and translated the book, she illustrated it as well. The one hundred pages tell the tale of My, a girl who dreams of creating a masterpiece. But her path is not easy. Her emotions, enthusiasm, and motivation seem to be blocked.

Along the way, My meets a merman named Nhan and their friendship grows, fueled by their mutual aspiration to create a great play that will be performed in front of famous people. Tram explained why she chose a merman as one of the main characters instead of some other mythical creature.

“I’ve had the idea of combining Vietnamese mythical creatures with modern life for a while now, but the idea of having a creative kid join forces with a merman is something I only thought of recently after seeing a post about some obscure Vietnamese mythical characters, one of whom was a merman.”

“I thought of having these two meet because, if a merman were to be in this modern setting, he would be quite an eccentric character – a very outgoing, very theatrical kind of guy – and he would pair perfectly with someone who is also very outgoing, with a lot of grand ideas in her mind. She just needs someone to pull it off, and that's where the merman comes in,” Tram recalled.

Editor Truong Minh of Science and Technology Publishing House, commented, “The most important thing is that this book brings back the feelings of our childhood. We remember our dreams, things that are unfinished, and realize that today’s children are very talented.”

“But in any situation, this book also helps us maintain a positive outlook and remember that we need to overcome difficulties and differences and must try to remain unaffected by social prejudice,” Minh noted.

Tram’s head teacher Phung Mai, who teaches literature at Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted, said she is extremely proud of her beloved student. The teacher recalled, “Since the first time I taught Tram in grade 10, I has been impressed by her passion for drawing. She draws very beautifully. When I read this book, I was happy that Tram dared to speak out and write down what she thinks and what she wants. That’s not very common at her age.” “She’s creative and has the ability to inspire creativity in others. She has passed on her desire to write and express her creative inspiration to her classmates. I hope this will also inspire her readers,” said teacher Mai.

Young people nowadays have various ways to write their stories. They might use imaginative elements to make the story easier to understand and Tram is no exception. Tram told us what she wanted to convey in "Carp Diem", “Be comfortable with your own pace. You don't have to create something extremely good every time. It's okay to create something that is yours, that is uniquely yours. The title “Carp Diem” is a pun on Carpe Diem, which means to seize the moment, to create something that is uniquely yours at this moment, that is of your own childish self in this moment.”

For writing in both Vietnamese and English and illustrating her story, Tram was awarded a Good Book Certificate by the Dan Tri Publishing House.