Poet Nguyen Duy received flowers from Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Literature and Arts Associations Nguyen Truong Luu and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association Bich Ngan - Photo: HO LAM
On the morning of April 20, at the Hall of the Union of Literature and Arts Associations, a program of reading and performing Nguyen Duy's poetry took place to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification.
Many attendees joined in the melodies of famous works by poet Nguyen Duy, with the opening being Vietnamese Bamboo, followed by Finding Relatives, Moonlight, Listening to Geckos Calling in the City, Standing Back, Ferry, Southern Old Man...
Nguyen Duy has many relatives.
Depending on circumstances, fate, and feelings, each Vietnamese person has a way of remembering April 1975.
For poet Nguyen Duy, his way of remembering is to carry out a program of reading and reciting poems across Vietnam from poems selected from hundreds of poems he composed after April 30, 1975 (except for the poem Vietnamese Bamboo written in the years 1970 - 1972, printed in the collection White Sand in 1973).
Those are his thoughts and memories about comradeship, friendship, love and human fate during war and post-war times, about optimism that needs many challenges or hope that is sometimes full and sometimes lacking.
Throughout the program, many poetry lovers were moved by Nguyen Duy's poems about war and human fate, which he himself read and shared with them memories of his creations. These were "Finding relatives", "Listening to geckos calling in the city", "Do len", "Stand back"...
Poet Nguyen Duy emotionally reads the poem "Finding Relatives" - Video : HO LAM
Find relatives is The first poem Nguyen Duy composed in the South in October 1975 has the following passage:
"Twenty-one long years / No one sits waiting for anyone / No one sits longing / The South searches for the North / The North searches for the South / Looking for each other under the sea / Looking for each other in the mountains / Looking for each other in every thing we do /.... Oh, who hasn't met their relatives /
Please come with me to this warm home / Sing this song with me / The great thing that remains today / Is intact / The People / The Fatherland / We make a pilgrimage to the land of reunion / Everywhere there are relatives".
From an officer of the Communications Command taking over the city, poet Nguyen Duy turned to become a cultural and artistic officer, composing poetry by chance.
"When I arrived in the South, I was warmly welcomed by the brothers at the Liberation Literature newspaper. At that time, Mr. Tran Bach Dang, Mr. Hoai Vu, and Mr. Son Nam said: 'Come here and work for us as a journalist for fun!'
After ten years of traveling across the fronts in the North, South, and border, I finally agreed to leave the army and asked the Command for information about the Liberation Literature newspaper. When I returned here, I worked as a poetry editor and many young poets in Ho Chi Minh City passed through my editing desk and grew up, such as: Nguyen Nhat Anh, Bui Chi Vinh, Nguyen Trong Tin...
With the affection I received from my Southern friends, I suddenly found myself becoming a person with many relatives in this country" - poet Nguyen Duy recalls with emotion.
Reciting Vietnamese Bamboo Poetry with Phan Thanh Van's voice and the zither played by Meritorious Artist Hai Phuong - Video: HO LAM
Nguyen Duy's poetry ranges from war to peace.
Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Literature and Arts Associations Nguyen Truong Luu shared that when he entered the hall of the program to read and perform Nguyen Duy's poetry, he felt like "the poetry of the past had returned".
"Nguyen Duy's poetic journey spans from war to peace . In the smoke and fire of bullets and bombs, the period of renovation, and international integration, his poetry has spoken out.
"His poetry builds a bridge connecting heart to heart, between people, without confusion, without resentment, without hatred" - President of Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association Bich Ngan felt.
According to Ms. Bich Ngan, in addition to hundreds of short poems, poet Nguyen Duy is also known by many people for three long poems: Awakening Potential, Looking from afar at the Fatherland and Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.
These three works show that his thinking and writing always aspire to go beyond the narrow limits of popular rhyme, making poetry expand its aesthetic range of reception and direct interaction with life, society and the constantly changing times.
Poet Nguyen Duy will perform a program of reading and performing Nguyen Duy's poems from April 20 to the end of April.
Localities where poets are expected to read poems include: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi , Hue, Thanh Hoa and Nha Trang. Each program is expected to last from 120 minutes, the number of poems depends on the actual duration at each location.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nha-tho-nguyen-duy-ta-hanh-huong-tren-dat-dai-sum-hop-noi-nao-cung-co-than-nhan-20250420095152463.htm
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