European Literature Days back after COVID hiatus

Readers in Ho Chi Minh City attend the European Literature Days 2019. (Photo : VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - European Literature Days 2022 will simultaneously take place at Casa Italia and at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi from May 5-15 after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The event is co-organised by the Goethe Institute, Institut Francais (French Institute in Vietnam), the Wallonie- Bruxelles Delegation (of Belgium), embassies of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and the British Council in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam, and the Hanoi Publishing House.

European Literature Days will be presented through literary translations from Belgium (Wallonie-Bruxelles), the Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Ukraine.

Vietnamese writers will also be invited onto the stage of the European Literature Days to introduce their latest poems to readers. As always, European Literature Days is a platform for cultural exchange between Vietnam and Europe.

Literature works to be introduced during the European Literature Days 2022 (Photo: VietnamPlus)

This year’s special guest is the Embassy of Ukraine. Ukraine will be launching the anthology of Ukrainian and world poems, translated and produced for the 30-year anniversary of Vietnamese-Ukrainian diplomatic relations.

European Literature Days offer valuable literature for readers, including European classics from the 19th century, two Czech anti-war novels: “The Fate of the Good Soldier Švejk during the World War” by Jaroslav Hašek and “Money from Hitler” by Radka Denemarková, and children’s books from Europe that have a long tradition on the Vietnamese book market.

Some of the highlights include children’s books by HCM City-based Belgian writer ECO (Eddy Coubeaux), short stories by the Italian award-winning Gianni Rodari, who is considered Italy’s most important 20th-century children’s author, and plenty of British humor in David Walliams “The boy in the dress”.

The organization board will also organize a round-table on Nobel Prize winner, Kazuo Ishiguro with the participation of translators, and online meetings with authors of novels from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy.

Every year on May 9th, Europe celebrates peace and unity. The date marks the anniversary of the historic 'Schuman declaration' that set out the idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe. It aimed to make war between Europe's nations unthinkable. Schuman's proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.

In Hanoi, Europe Day has in recent years been regularly celebrated by a number of activities. The public is invited to learn and enjoy new books for children, youth, parents, grand-parents, teachers, intellectuals. There is a lot to be seen, heard and read from Europe through books and films in particular. 

Readers will also meet authors of novels from Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy, some of them very popular and with a readership in Vietnam. France’s Delphine de Vigan will present her psychological detective novel “D’après une histoire vraie” at Nha Nam bookstore. From Germany, internationally acclaimed lawyer-writer Bernhard Schlink who has gained a loyal readership in Vietnam, will be present with his latest short stories. He will be followed by another lawyer-writer Ferdinand von Schirach. His book will introduce the Vietnamese audience to the European legal and value system. A new name for the international book market is Mrs. Khue Pham, who is a Overseas Vietnamese in Germany. She will be introduced through an excellent translation of an excerpt from her book to the Vietnamese readership by ZZZ Review. The recipient of the famous German Book Prize and visiting writer to Vietnam in 2018, Julia Franck will join the event online. 
  
The Casa Italia Hanoi is not only famous for Italian products but also welcomes back the Hanoi audience to meet the mysterious author, Elena Ferrante. Nobody knows the true face of this supposedly female writer behind her writing pseudonym.

European classics from the 19th century will be re-introduced to the Vietnamese public. Books such as Gustav Flaubert’s Education Sentimentale (France), Luigi Bertelli’s (Italy) Diary of Hurricane Johnny will be presented in a fresh and young Vietnamese language from the Italian original. Another new name for the Vietnamese audience will be the forever young and inspiring German writer Georg Büchner. The presentation of his Woyzeck will be a scenic reading with actors and actresses from the Youth Theater.

A round-table on Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro will be held by Nha Nam Publishing House and ZZZ Review. This event will be translated and open a discussion on the hidden ambiguities of Ishiguro’s works./.