Vietnamese literature finds its way internationally

To bring Vietnamese literature to the international arena, many factors need to resonate from publishers, book companies, translators and the authors themselves.

Writer Nguyen Khac Ngan Vi was a speaker at a literary seminar within the framework of a writing program in Shanghai last year - Photo: NVCC

Writer Nguyen Nhat Anh has had many books copyrighted and published in many different languages.

At an exchange event, he revealed that his works have been translated into other languages ​​thanks to international publishers or translators contacting him for cooperation. With I See Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass , Tre Publishing House took the initiative.

According to him, to have the opportunity to reach global readers, domestic book publishers need to be determined and make efforts to find opportunities.

Books selected for translation based on personal interests

Chairman of the Translation Literature Council (Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association) Hien Nguyen has translated short stories by many Vietnamese writers and poets such as Nguyen Huy Thiep, Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Le Minh Khue, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Trinh Bich Ngan... and they have been selected for publication by Korean literary magazines.

Ms. Hien told Tuoi Tre : "Vietnamese literature is introduced in Korea mainly thanks to connections made by Korean translators who study Vietnamese literature such as Professor Bae Yang Soo, Professor Ahn Kyung Hwan, Professor Jeon Hye Kyung, translators Ha Jae Hong and Kim Joo Yeong...

A Korean translator once confirmed to me that because translators are self-motivated and have almost no support from either Vietnam or Korea, the works they choose to translate relationship mainly come from personal interests or the between the translator and the author, making it very difficult to find a publisher for official release.

Chinese translation of Passing Through the Clouds and Hanoi People, a story about eating and drinking in the past - Photo: Publishing House

At the 31st Beijing International Book Fair recently held in China, Chibooks Director Nguyen Le Chi and publishing units from other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia... signed the Southeast Asian Literature Translation Project with the Chinese publishing representative, Ly Giang Publishing House (Guangxi Province).

Literary works from signatory countries will be selected and translated into Chinese through signatory publishing houses.

This is the first project to introduce Vietnamese literature books to the billion-people market.

The project started with two books , Passing Through the Clouds (Do Quang Tuan Hoang) and Hanoians, Stories of Eating and Drinking in the Past (Vu The Long).

"Chibooks' investment in promoting Vietnamese books abroad is all self-funded by the company, so it is still limited. We do not have much money to translate a series of satisfactory works like other countries do.

"Without translations in popular languages ​​​​such as English, Chinese, etc., it is very difficult to convince foreign publishing partners to cooperate," said Ms. Spend.

For me, if you write well, "good fortune will come". Otherwise, all efforts will be in vain. But for a book to reach its readers, it still requires strategy, connections from publishers and dedicated intermediaries.

Writer Nguyen Ngoc Thuan

Know foreign languages ​​​​to gain experience

Writer Nguyen Ngoc Thuan confided to Tuoi Tre that his works are often translated directly from Vietnamese. The Hungarian translation of the book Just closed eyes, just opened the window published in 2020 by Európa was translated into English Open the window, eyes closed.

Or János - a famous Hungarian writer, poet, and playwright, who translated Eyes Closed, Window Opened - said he came across the book in a hotel library in a city in Central Vietnam:

Hungarian translation of the book Eyes Open, Window Closed

"For weeks I read nothing, just skimmed through a few lifeless travel books.

I began to feel like I was also drifting in a special country but with a desperate mood I happened to start reading this novel.

I read it from cover to cover.

"The efforts of Tre Publishing House in introducing the book Open the window, eyes closed at international book fairs are not small.

The book's translation into Swedish helped it win the Peter Pan Award in Sweden in 2008.

Writer Ho Anh Thai is also an important bridge, which very few Vietnamese publishers can do.

Many Vietnamese writers brought books abroad thanks to his efforts," said Mr. Thuan.

As the first Vietnamese writer to participate in the writing program of the Shanghai Writers Association, Nguyen Khac Ngan Vi said that this opened up opportunities for her to contact leading publishers in Shanghai in particular and China in general.

Ngan Vi has just signed a contract with Shanghai Literature Publishing House to publish the book Van Sac Hu Vo , which is expected to be released in China this year. Having studied for a master's degree at Fudan University and knowing how to speak Chinese has helped Ngan Vi a lot when participating in the writing program and finding opportunities.

She hopes that the generation of young Vietnamese writers of her generation will find more opportunities to go out and interact, such as residency programs, writing camps, book fairs, cultural exchanges... Ngan Vi shares that Vietnamese literature is not a strong literature that forces outsiders to give it priority to listen to.

She said: "The Vietnamese publishing industry should have a more flexible marketing strategy. To be able to market, we must have a good translation. We writers are not qualified to do this proactively, but depend on policies, as well as investment from book companies and publishers. And above all, writers still need a professional writing attitude."

English version of two books Sitting on a Tree Crying and Wishing You a Good Day - Photo: Publishing House

During 25 years of working in publishing and trying to introduce Vietnamese cultural books internationally, Ms. Le Chi frankly confided that there are very few foreign publishers with demand for Vietnamese books.

She said the biggest difficulty for a unit bringing books to sell is the limited budget for translating the manuscript.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/van-chuong-viet-tim-duong-ra-quoc-te-20250705095013481.htm