Promoting Vietnamese poetry

Thousands of famous contemporary poets and poetry lovers flocked to Van Mieu (the Temple of Literature) in Hanoi on February 9 to celebrate the 7th Vietnam Poetry Day.
The annual event, which is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month, aims to encourage young Vietnamese poets to share their work and experience.
This year’s event highlighted the image of the late President Ho Chi Minh and Truong Son Trail to mark the 40th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s Testament and the 50th anniversary of the legendary trail created during the war of resistance against the US.
To ensure the peaceful society of today, many young Vietnamese people volunteered to join the army and laid down their lives on the battlefields. PhD Pham Thu Yen, a lecturer of Teachers’ Training University of Hanoi, said the TV programme “Seeking Fallen Combatants” inspired her to compose a poem in honour of the fallen combatants.
Meanwhile, a group of young poets performed verses, one after another, inventing new ways of composing poems.
Lu Thi Mai, the youngest member, who is a second-year student at the University of Culture in Hanoi, said that the group is comprised of poetry aficionados coming from different parts of the country.
According to poet Do Trung Lai, one of event organisers, the 7th Vietnam Poetry Day was successful as it became a forum for experienced and young poets alike to share experiences, and in addition, this year’s event attracted more poetry lovers than last year’s.