The 2nd Asia Pacific Poetry Festival, bringing together over 650 writers, poets and translators from 40 countries and territories throughout the world, was launched on March 2 at the Hanoi Opera House.

According to poet Huu Thinh, the festival is intended to promote the unique attributes and values of Vietnamese literature among international communities, as well as broaden the international understanding of the nation’s culture and people.

The event also paves the way for Vietnamese authors to meet with foreign translators, literature researchers and publishers, and promotes the host’s works internationally.

Furthermore, Vietnamese writers and poets have the opportunity to exchange views with and learn from the experience of overseas experts.

This year’s festival featured poetry readings by local and foreign poets praising the beauty and harmony of nature.

Highlights include the reading of several works of Ho Xuan Huong, a renowned Vietnamese female poet (1772-1822), which were translated and performed by a female Slovak writer.

The festival is part of an event series to promote Vietnamese literature overseas taking place in Hanoi and northern Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh provinces between March 1 and 7. Other major events include the 3rd International Conference on Vietnamese literacy promotion and the 3rd Vietnamese Poetry Day.

As scheduled, conferences on Vietnam’s prose works and poems will be organised in Hanoi in line with an international arts and poetry night in Quang Ninh on March 3.

Meanwhile, the 3 rd Vietnamese Poetry Day will convene in Hanoi’s Temple of Literature on March 5 with the theme “Turn the heart to the sea and islands”.

VNA