Several well-known Vietnamese translators recounted their memories of Austrian literary works at a conference held on July 2 at the Hanoi Library.

The conference was jointly organised by the library and the Austrian Embassy, and aimed to bring Austrian literature closer to Vietnam and seek new opportunities for exchanges between Austrian and Vietnamese writers in the near future.

Despite a small population of eight million, Austria has attracted many people for its rich literature. The most well-known Austrian writers in Vietnam include Stefan Zweig, Elfriede Jelinek, Daniel Kehlmann and Franz Kafka, whose works have been translated into Vietnamese.

At the conference, translator Hoang Thuy Toan said he was happy to have had the chance to translate the great book of Austrian writer Fritz Jensen, which showed his admiration and love towards Vietnam and the courage of the Vietnamese people. Reminiscing About Vietnam (Vietnam Dat Nuoc Cua Nhung Nguoi Anh Hung) was published in 1955 and describes the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Translator Quang Chien expressed his emotions of the famous poem collection of Eric Fridge that he translated into Vietnamese, titled Und Vietnam Und (And Vietnam And). The collection denounces the American War in Vietnam.

Translator, writer and poet Duong Tuong said that he burst into tears when he was translating The Letter of an Unknown Woman (Buc Thu Cua Nguoi dan ba khong quen) written by Stefan Zweig.

At the conference, Austrian Professor Johann Holzner briefed delegates about the development of Austrian literature and its evolution since 1989. At that time, many Austrian writers left the country and continued to pursue their writing careers elsewhere, while some foreign writers moved to Austria and began to compose here.

Nowadays, the definition of "Austrian literature" is widely understood as literature written in Austria or by Austrian writers, which is mostly, but not exclusively, written in German.

Austrian literature has a close connection with German literature, and the gap between German literature and Austrian is porous, due to rich and complex cultural exchanges.-VNA