European Literature Days 2025: Concerns for Vietnamese souls living abroad

Roots of concern

The European Literature Days 2025 kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City in early May with two literary discussion programs: “The Voice Behind the Author: Literature and Cultural Flows” held at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) and “Migrant Literature: Discovering Hidden Histories” at the German House (No. 33, Le Duan Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1). Both programs attracted a large audience, especially young people.

Here, attendees had the opportunity to listen to the stories and writings of Vietnamese writers such as Cecile Pin, Khue Pham, Nuage Rose (Hong Van), Vanessa Vu and Anna Moi.

Except for Cecile Pin, Khue Pham and Vanessa Vu, the two authors Nuage Rose and Anna Moi are no longer unfamiliar names to domestic readers. Nuage Rose is the author of Ba ngan may troi dat xu beo and 120 ngay - May thoi voi gio, both published by Tre Publishing House. Writer Anna Moi also often returns to Vietnam and interacts with readers; earlier this year, she had the novel Noc buom also published by Tre Publishing House.

Writers: Vanessa Vu, Cecile Pin and Anna Moi (from left) at the Migrant Literature Exchange Program: Discovering Hidden Histories

Despite the age and generation gap, deep down inside the authors, they all share a common longing for their roots. As second-generation expatriate writers, for Cecile Pin, Khue Pham and Vanessa Vu, the need to understand themselves and their roots is always a longing and an urge.

“Growing up, I had a lot of unknowns about my family and my roots. When I became an adult, I started to fill this void by reading books and newspapers and gradually connecting the stories together. That is why I wrote the novel Lost Souls,” author Cecile Pin shared.

While Cecile Pin chose to approach Vietnamese cuisine as a means of connecting with her roots, writer Nuage Rose chose language. Her first work was written entirely in French, but in her second work, she decided to write in Vietnamese as an effort to "preserve" the words and phrases of Hanoi in the 80s that have more or less disappeared today, and also as a way to connect with her roots through language.

Voices from many corners of the world

Writer Anna Moi (real name Tran Thien Nga, born in 1955 in Saigon) went to France to study at the age of 18. Unlike many people, writer Anna Moi said that she has never written with the mindset of a person living abroad, but her literature always has the shadow of Vietnam. Although she has lived in many places such as France, Japan, Thailand, perhaps her homeland is still an inseparable connection, so from 1992-2011, she moved back to live completely in Vietnam. Notably, her first novel, Riz Noir (Black Rice), was inspired by a visit to Con Dao and a meeting with a former prisoner of Con Dao in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Since 1992, I returned to Vietnam and found inspiration to write. At that time, a French publisher asked me to write about exile life in France, but I refused. Why should I write about France when I am in Vietnam? I have never thought of myself as an exile, so I have never intended to write about this,” writer Anna Moi expressed.

In the exchange program with the theme “The Voice Behind the Author: Literature and the Flow of Culture”, Dr. Phan Thanh Dinh, Vice Principal of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the profound nature of literature is a journey for people to find their own voice. When an author writes a story, whether fictional or narrative, they are connecting invisible threads between memory, language, identity and status.

“Today, we have the opportunity to listen to voices from many places: France, Germany, Spain, England… but at the same time, they are also Vietnamese voices carrying a journey of cultural transformation, a journey of writers that not only goes through geographical space, but also goes through spiritual depths, emotions and family memories,” said Dr. Phan Thanh Dinh.

After Ho Chi Minh City and Hue City, the European Literature Days 2025 will take place in Hanoi (from May 8 to 11) with outstanding programs such as: "Journey of writing a novel: From beginning to completion", "Incorporating journalistic techniques into novels", "Sources of inspiration: Culture, experience and words", "Graphic Christmas: Comics or comic books?"...

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhung-ngay-van-hoc-chau-au-2025-tran-tro-nhung-tam-hon-viet-xa-xu-post794394.html