Events Search and Views Navigation
November 2019
Cultural Series. Talk/lecture on the History of Publishing in Vietnam
Vietnam has a strong tradition in learning, partly thanks to the Confucian influence. The country has very high literacy rates, now 97.3% with a strong reading culture as shown by the fact Vietnam has more bookshops and publishing houses than other SE Asian countries. We are delighted that Dr Trần Đoàn Lâm (Editor in Chief of Thế Giới publishers), one FVH’s favourite speakers, will talk about the HISTORY OF PUBLISHING IN VIETNAM. This is a whistlestop ‘tour’ covering the essentials…
Find out more »February 2020
Bookclub – The General Retires by Nguyễn Huy Thiệp
When it first appeared in 1987, the title story of this collection by Nguyễn Huy Thiệp caused a sensation in Vietnam. “Not since the Communist revolution had readers found as stark and compelling a view of their world as offered by ‘The General Retires’. Written in spare, succinct prose, it captures the despair of an old general who, after many years of devoted service to his country, is alienated by the emptiness of the society into which he retires and…
Find out more »June 2020
Bookclub for June – “I’m a Woman” by Y Ban, and “Viet Nam Tradition + Change” by Hữu Ngọc
“Y Ban’s I am a woman, the title story of her collection, describes a Vietnamese woman hired to nurse a rich man in Taiwan. When the young woman unwittingly arouses her lethargic master’s libido, she is accused of sexual harassment, punished and fired.” From Huu Ngoc, Viet Nam, tradition and change. Phạm Thị Xuân Ban (aka Y Ban, born in 1961) is a Vietnamese writer of short stories, poet and journalist. She published her poetry on her Facebook timeline. Her books…
Find out more »September 2020
Bookclub – “The best we could do” by Thi Bui
“This illustrated memoir is about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves. At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: while adjusting to life as a first-time…
Find out more »October 2020
Bookclub – The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Nội, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Hồ Chí Minh Trail to fight in a…
Find out more »