Vietnamese parents and children in Stockholm next to books published by Hien
In 2023, on the occasion of both my novels The Mountains Sing and Dust Child being published in Swedish, I went to this country to present at the Gothenburg book fair, and then attended the Vietnamese Culture Day in Stockholm.
There, I met Hien Ekeroth - a woman who diligently spreads books and Vietnamese culture here.
After meeting in Stockholm, from last year until now Hien Ekeroth continues to work hard on that path.
I find that many times children find inspiration and develop a love for their mother tongue from finding themselves in a book written in their native language and being proud that the book carries their cultural identity. me.
Sage Ekeroth
4 Vietnamese works in Sweden
* Hi Hien, congratulations on the Peter Pan silver star award for the translation of Wild Chang – Bear by author Trang Nguyen and artist Jeet Zdung, which you translated and published. What made you choose to translate and publish this book in Sweden?
– A week after receiving notice of the award, I still felt happy and surprised. Peter Pan is an award organized by the International Board of Books for Young People Sweden (IBBY Sweden) to honor works translated into Swedish.
In the 24-year history of the award, there is only one Vietnamese work that has ever received the award (Just close your eyes and open the window by author Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, 2008).
This year I am happy because Vietnam has a remarkable presence: outside Wild Chang – Bear by author Trang Nguyen & artist Jeet Zdung received the silver star award, the highest prize went to the book by author Thrity Umrigar illustrated by Vietnamese artist Khoa Le.
The idea of translating and publishing the book Wild Chang – Bear starting from an article about author Trang Nguyen.
I felt curious so I bought the book to read and fell in love with the story of Chang - a little girl with a big dream of preserving nature and wild animals.
After learning more about the author, I decided to introduce this book to Swedish readers.
* Graduating from Hanoi University of Education in 2004, then earning a master's degree in international education at Stockholm University, you chose to translate literature very early, and you also won the Vietnam Book Award for translating comics. Pippi Longstocking, Little Emil and the Southern Grass by author Astrid Lindgren in 2013. Why did you choose to translate children's literature and not other literary genres?
– I started translating and interpreting to learn and practice English. But during the translation process, I met and learned a lot from extremely interesting people and stories that evoked so many emotions that I continued to translate when I could.
The three books by Astrid Lindgren were directly contacted by Kim Dong because they could not find a suitable translator from Swedish in 2012. I love Astrid Lindgren's books and have just started a new life in Sweden. should accept the offer to translate books after many years of hiatus.
Even though she invests in printing the products herself, Hien prints beautiful hardcover books
* Although you have a stable job at Karolinska Institutet University (Stockholm), you have established Barnens Val Publishing House since 2021 to translate and publish children's works of Vietnamese literature. It is a difficult path, requiring a lot of time and effort. Did you feel that way when you chose publishing instead of just translating?
– It's true that it's difficult but it's fun so I still chose it, I've come a long way so far. I have translated and published four Vietnamese works: Truly Tet by Bui Phuong Tam and Mai Ngo, Wild Chang – Bear by Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung, What is Home and What is Tet in the series Baby Asks Mother by Pham Thanh Van and Quyen Thai.
In addition, I translated and published two more works by American authors – Be Kind and Be Strong by Pat Zietlow Miller and Jen Hill. I am currently translating Wild Chang – Elephant by Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung, expected to be published in January 1.
Publishing books in Sweden is very simple. The biggest difficulty is financing and promoting so that Swedish readers know about your books.
The reading culture and habit of reading books with children in Sweden is admirable, but readers here are loyal to their favorite authors and familiar publishers, so it is important for a small and new publisher like Barnens Val to Publishing and introducing authors from Vietnam is difficult.
In addition, running a publishing house is no different from running a company, and I only know and like making books, so the business is left in limbo.
Hien chose to print the book in Vietnamese with full accents
Join hands for Vietnamese culture
* You also regularly organize free reading sessions for children in Vietnamese and Swedish at Stockholm city public libraries. Do you really want to create a larger space to preserve and promote the Vietnamese language among the young generation of Vietnamese descent living abroad?
– To be honest, at first I persuaded libraries to organize Vietnamese book readings out of... jealousy. The public libraries here all organize regular readings for children in many different languages. Only Vietnamese is missing, so I proactively contacted them.
I volunteered to read books so that Swedish people would know Vietnamese, so that Vietnamese friends wouldn't feel alone, and so that Vietnamese families would take the trouble to take their children to the library.
Whenever I organize book readings, I often organize drawing and handicraft activities so that the children can develop their creativity and become familiar with art.
Not only reading books, Hien also organizes craft activities for children
The library here is very beautiful, convenient, with many good books and interesting activities for all ages. Unfortunately, the number of Vietnamese people coming to borrow books is small, so the number of Vietnamese books is also small. Luckily, as long as I request a book title, the library will buy it. When the books arrive at the library, they will send a letter informing you to come pick them up.
* So what about the publisher?
– For me, because Vietnamese is so important, I founded Barnens Val Publishing House to bring Vietnamese stories to Sweden.
I hope young people of Vietnamese origin living abroad, like my daughter, have access to Vietnamese language and Vietnamese culture from many directions, many means and many different angles.
During the process of teaching and participating in a number of research projects in schools in Vietnam, Sweden and Korea, I noticed that many children found inspiration and developed a love for their mother tongue from finding yourself in a book written in your native language and proud that the book carries your cultural identity.
* Vietnamese Culture Day in Stockholm is a quality event, with the large participation of the Vietnamese community and Swedish friends. What do you think needs to be done to make such days organized regularly in Sweden and other countries?
– Vietnam Cultural Day 2023 held at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities is really fun and memorable. The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities was very excited because the number of visitors to the museum that day was unprecedented.
I was very fortunate to connect the three-legged partnership between the museum, the Vietnamese association and the Vietnamese Embassy in Sweden to jointly organize Vietnamese Cultural Day.
The museum supports the location, the embassy sets up an exhibition space to introduce Vietnamese culture and organizes a lion dance performance, the Vietnam Trade Office in Stockholm is in charge of the fair of products of Vietnamese businesses, and the Vietnam Trade Association in Stockholm is in charge of the fair. Vietnamese people from Stockholm are both the organizers and take care of logistics.
This event not only helps spread love for Vietnam but also helps the Vietnamese community become more connected to each other.
In 2024, a few friends and I have connected with a number of associations and individuals in Sweden, Denmark and Norway to jointly organize Vietnamese Cultural Day in all three countries. This project has received partial financial support from the cultural agency of the Nordic countries (Nordic Culture Point).
Next June, Vietnamese Culture Day will take place in Stockholm, next year it will be held in Copenhagen (Denmark) and hopefully in 6 it will be in Oslo (Norway).
I hope that more organizations and individuals here as well as in the country will join hands to spread Vietnamese culture more in this Northern European region. Only by joining hands to cultivate can culture go far and spread, but it is very difficult for just a few individuals to do this.
The whale waved
I named my publishing house Barnens Val, because in Swedish, Barnen means child, Val – a different homonym, is both a choice and a whale.
My wish is that all children will have the opportunity to choose and develop their own potential to become whales swimming in the vast ocean of life.
The fact that children were born and raised between two cultures is an advantage but also a big challenge in the process of finding themselves and orienting their future.
Nguyen Vinh Nguyen wrote Yersin through the lens of children
