This is the second year that Vietnam Poetry Day has "moved" to other localities outside of Hanoi – the traditional location of this event for over 20 editions. In 2025, Vietnam Poetry Day will be held in Ninh Binh province. This year, Vietnam Poetry Day returns to its birthplace: Quang Ninh province was the first locality to organize the event on a provincial scale in 1988, commemorating the 520th anniversary of King Le Thanh Tong's poem inscribed on the cliff of Bai Tho mountain. From this provincial-level event, 15 years later, Vietnam Poetry Day was officially established nationwide in 2003.
Poetry in the mine
Poet Tran Dang Khoa, Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association , is in charge of selecting 50 representative verses for Vietnam Poetry Day 2026. He said that this year, the selection of verses for Vietnam Poetry Day is different from previous years. For the first time, instead of "releasing poems into the sky," the poems containing these carefully selected verses will be printed in a poetry collection titled "Before the Great Sea" - the theme of this year's Poetry Day.
In addition, the organizing committee will display the content of 50 poems on sails designed by photographer Duong Minh Long, to introduce them to the public. Mr. Duong Minh Long has also been entrusted with the responsibility of designing the entire artistic space for this year's Vietnam Poetry Day.
At the Lantern Festival Poetry Night 2026, the highlight of the event, the public had the opportunity to simultaneously enjoy works about the sea by many famous poets and authors with excellent poems about the sea, including young poets who are making their mark on the literary scene and were recently awarded the Poet and Young Author Prize by the Vietnam Writers Association in 2025.
A new feature of this year's Poetry Night is that some authors whose poems, or parts of poems, have been set to music and become familiar songs will directly recount the circumstances of their creation and read the original poems; this will be followed by performances of the songs by professional singers. In this way, the public will gain a deeper understanding of the broader aspects of life reflected in the lyrics, aspects they may not have fully grasped, even if they have heard and memorized the songs themselves.
Another special feature of this year's Vietnam Poetry Day is perhaps the local connection to the host province. At the Poetry Night, there will be several unique artistic performances about the land and people of Quang Ninh , performed by local artists. In addition, the organizing committee plans to take groups of poets to mines, universities, factories, and military units in the area, for discussions about poetry, poetry readings, and as a form of creative field trip.
The virtues of poetry
Within the framework of Vietnam Poetry Day 2026, a poetry discussion will revolve around the theme "The Dignity of Poetry." According to Nguyen Binh Phuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association, the reason the organizing committee chose this theme is that in today's society, with the encroachment of artificial intelligence (AI), can poets still preserve their dignity?
Speakers and attendees at the panel discussion will discuss many important issues, such as: Should we accept the direct involvement of artificial intelligence in poetic creation? What benefits or harms will artificial intelligence cause when involved in poetic creation? Will technology, which fuels heated debates and even harsh criticisms about poetry among artists, affect the development of poetry? In particular, what impact will artificial intelligence have on the perception of poetry among certain segments of society?...
The symposium also provided an opportunity to reflect on the role, mission, and dignity of poetry in the ups and downs of the country's history, in the turning points of human understanding of beauty and the value of kindness... Another aspect of poetry's dignity that the organizers hoped would spark lively discussion is: Today, when everything has been, is, and (very likely will be) a commodity, does poetry dare to reject "becoming a commodity, a temporary entertainment tool" in order to remain itself - the art form that embodies the essence of the human soul?
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dang Diep, Chairman of the Council of Theoretical and Critical Studies of the Vietnam Writers Association, choosing the theme "The Dignity of Poetry" at this time is very necessary. In a context where many moral and aesthetic values are at risk of being overturned and degraded, literature and art, including poetry, must clearly demonstrate its mission of contributing to creating a humane environment, full of love between people.
| It is expected that the 2027 Vietnam Poetry Day will be held in the hometown of the renowned poet Do Chieu (formerly Ben Tre province, now Vinh Long province), and in subsequent years, Poetry Day will expand to the Central Highlands, northern provinces, and the birthplace of the great poet Nguyen Du… |
According to nhandan.vn
Source: https://baodongthap.vn/tho-ca-truoc-bien-lon--a237374.html
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