Poet Huu Thinh, chairman of the Viet Nam Writers' Association speaks at the First Asia Pacific Poetry Festival in Quang Ninh Province.—  Photo vanvn.net

HA NOI (VNS) — Vietnamese literature will be introduced to international delegates as a symbol of the people's desire for freedom, happiness and independence, poet Huu Thinh, chairman of the Viet Nam Writers' Association, said.

Today, the association announced plans to organise the second Asia Pacific Poetry Festival and an international conference to promote Vietnamese literature by outstanding poets and writers on March 1-7.

Some 550 local poets and writers and 200 delegates from 40 countries and territories, such as China, Thailand, Laos and Russia, as well as Indonesia, India and Egypt, will participate in the events.

The international delegates will come from embassies, the Afro-Asian Writers' Association, the Mekong River Literature Association and the United States' William Joiner Centre.

They will attend the Vietnamese Poetry Day, organised annually on the fifth day of the first lunar month, which will fall on March 5 this year.

The opening ceremony for the events will take place on March 2 in Ha Noi.

On the following day, two seminars will be held for the delegates to discuss the role of poetry and prose in the process of integration and development of the communities.

The events will be highlighted by a poetry reading at the Ha Noi Opera House, where local and foreign poets will present their works.

On the occasion, the international delegates will visit the Vietnamese Literature Museum, where an exhibit on Vietnamese literature with foreign readers will be hosted. The delegates will also tour Ha Long Bay, enjoy quan ho (love duets) in the northern province of Bac Ninh and visit the memorial house of Cao Ba Quat (1809-55), a Vietnamese poet and revolutionary, in Gia Lam District, Ha Noi.

"Besides the conference and time spent on exchanges, we will try to organise trips to introduce the international delegates to the Vietnamese culture, history and landscape," said Thinh.

This is a precious opportunity to introduce and promote Vietnamese literature to our international friends, he added.

"On the occasion, many translation projects will be signed between Viet Nam and its partners." — VNS