Đắk Nông organised a poetry night themed "Sống và Hi vọng" (Live and Hope) on Vietnamese Poetry Day 2022. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyên Dung

HÀ NỘI — After a two-year hiatus, Vietnamese Poetry Day officially returned with a flexible style to make sure it adapted to the new normal.

Vietnamese Poetry Day is held annually on the 15th day of the first lunar month across the country, the same day that Hồ Chí Minh wrote the poem Nguyên Tiêu in 1948.

This year poetry day was themed Hãy Sống và Hy Vọng (Let's Live and Hope) to promote a positive message and bring Vietnamese culture and art closer to the public.

In a recent letter to the Literature and Art Associations of provinces and cities, Nguyễn Quang Thiều, chairman of the Việt Nam Writers' Association suggested local associations to have the most appropriate and safest way to organise poetry day, based on the specific pandemic situation of their localities.

In Hà Nội, this event was not held at the Văn Miếu-Quốc Tử Giám (the Temple of Literature Complex) as usual but instead took place online.

In Thừa Thiên – Huế, poetry day was held at the headquarters of the local Union of Arts and Cultures with two large-scale poetry events.

The first event, a poetry night with the theme Sống và Hy vọng (Live and Hope) was held on February 14.

Authors from Ô Lâu, Tam Giang, Sông Bồ poetry club and Hương Giang poetry association all took part in this noteworthy occasion.

The second event, Huế Poetry Festival 2022 with the theme of Thơ Huế và Di sản (Huế poetry and Heritage) was held on the evening of February 15.

The programme discussed great authors in history such as Nguyễn Du, Hồ Chí Minh, Nguyễn Bính, Đông Hồ and living poets such as Hoàng Phủ Ngọc Tường, Nguyễn Khoa Điềm, Hồ Đắc Thiếu Anh, Mai Văn Hoan, Phạm Nguyên Tường, Phạm Tấn Hầu, and Lê Tấn Quỳnh.

In addition, poems set to music about Spring and Huế by Văn Cao, Trần Hoàn, Nguyễn Phước Hải Trung, and Trầm Tích were introduced to the public.

Poet Hồ Đăng Thanh Ngọc Chairman of Union of Arts and Culture Associations of Thừa Thiên – Huế said: “Huế has a very special poetic heritage that is poetry on royal architecture. Poetry appearing on Huế monuments, on the imperial citadel, and blends generations of poets with Huế cultural sentiments.

"A huge volume of work from generations of poets with hundreds of authors and hundreds of poems composed about Huế and Huế heritage has created a rare phenomenon in the treasure of Vietnamese poetry.”

In HCM City, the local Writers' Association announced that this year’s poetry day would not be held.

Funds for this event will be transferred to the organisation of a writing contest about the silent sacrifices of the frontline forces in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Writer Bích Ngân, chairwoman of the HCM City Writers' Association said that this decision came from many facts, with the aim of organising poetry day when it is safe.

In Bến Tre, Nguyễn Đình Chiểu Literature and Arts Association organised Vietnamese Poetry Day all day on February 15 at the House of Culture of the Elderly.

Similarly, after a two-year hiatus, the poetry day in Đồng Nai also returned, with an exhibition of nearly 100 photographs and works published in the past.

Quảng Nam, Phú Yên, Bình Định, Ninh Thuận, Bình Thuận Province decided not to organise poetry days this year.

Meanwhile, localities such as Lâm Đồng, Đắk Nông, Quảng Bình held poetry days with a significant event.

Notably, Đắk Lắk Province organised poetry day online, and broadcast live on the fan pages of local Radio and Television Station and Culture and Arts Association from February 15.

Tiền Giang Province organised a programme themed poetic aspirations by the Tiền River broadcast live on Facebook. — VNS