After seven years, poet Nguyễn Thiên Ngân returns with a new poetry collection, Người là một bóng chim khuê tú (The Silhouette of a Noble Crane). This book isn’t just a collection of 50 poems—it’s a deeply personal journey. It traces her struggles, her search for meaning, and ultimately, her acceptance of her true self. Moving from confusion to clarity, from resistance to embrace, it captures the raw, unfiltered process of self-discovery.
To bring this emotional journey to life visually, we created a series of mixed-media illustrations. We started with a question: If Nguyễn Thiên Ngân were an illustrator, how would she draw? We studied her photographs, layering drawings on top, allowing her perspective to guide the process. The result is a collection of images that feel deeply personal—like glimpses of memory, familiar yet distant.
Throughout the book, the demoiselle crane reappears, soaring through its pages. It serves as a quiet reminder that we are still on this journey—following the poet’s thoughts, emotions, and transformation.
The illustrations are intentionally minimal, crafted in black ink on white paper. Stripping away color ensures that nothing distracts from the words on the page. The poems themselves set the emotional tone; the visuals are simply guides, leaving space for the reader’s imagination to go beyond the page. The only color that remains is that of the paper itself—reinforcing the purity and rawness of the experience.
