The New York-based publishing firm BOA Editions is set to release aVietnamese-English collection of poems, The Secret of Hoa Sen.
Apress release by the firm said that the collection of 52 poems byNguyen Phan Que Mai, which has been translated by the author and BruceWeigl, would be released as part of its Lannan Translations SelectionSeries in October 2014.
Mai is among the most exciting writers toemerge in post-war Vietnam. These insightful poems, published in bothEnglish and Vietnamese, build new bridges between two cultures boundtogether by war and destruction. The Secret of Hoa Sen, Mai's firstfull-length US publication, shines with craft, art and deeply felthumanity.
According to Teresa Mei Chuc, author of Red Thread:Poems, "Nguyen Phan Que Mai's The Secret of Hoa Sen, takes us along thestreets of Vietnam where we meet women bearing ‘stars in the shape ofcarrying poles' and women who are the collectors of garbage who ‘mendtheir lives whole from debris.' Mai is the first Vietnamese author whosecomplete book has been published by BOA Editions. She is also the firstSoutheast Asian poet to be published under the prestigious LannanTranslations Selection Series.
Established in 2002, the LannanTranslations Selection Series publishes two best books of contemporaryinternational poetry in translation each year. The partnership betweenBOA Editions and Lannan assures that high-quality translations ofcontemporary international poetry continue to find publication in theUS.
In 2013, BOA Editions received nearly 100 fully translatedpoetry manuscripts from around the world for the Lannan TranslationsSelection Series. The two collections that were selected were The Secretof Hoa Sen by Mai and Smugglers, a collection of poems by AlesDebeljak, translated from Slovene by Brian Henry.
Mai andtranslator Weigl have spent the past 20 years translating contemporaryVietnamese poetry. Weigl is the author of 13 poetry collections, withthe most recent, Abundance of Nothing, being shortlisted for thePulitzer Prize for poetry in 2013.
As per the book'sintroduction, Weigl wrote: "Nguyen Phan Que Mai's poetry instructs us onhow to live more fully in the world, and reaffirms the power ofclear-headed and direct poetry to transform even our darkest hours intodeeply abiding lessons on the complexities of history, time and love."
Bornin a small North Vietnamese village in 1973, Mai has authored threepoetry collections and translated six. Her literary awards include thePoetry of the Year 2010 Award from the Hanoi Writers Association; andthe Literature and Arts Award from the Hanoi Union of Literature andArts Associations, among others. She is the Honorary Fellow in Writingof Hong Kong Baptist University.
On the occasion of the book'spublication, Mai has been invited for a reading tour in the US. InFebruary 2015, Mai will travel to several American states where she willread poetry and attend workshops at universities and literary centres.-VNA
Apress release by the firm said that the collection of 52 poems byNguyen Phan Que Mai, which has been translated by the author and BruceWeigl, would be released as part of its Lannan Translations SelectionSeries in October 2014.
Mai is among the most exciting writers toemerge in post-war Vietnam. These insightful poems, published in bothEnglish and Vietnamese, build new bridges between two cultures boundtogether by war and destruction. The Secret of Hoa Sen, Mai's firstfull-length US publication, shines with craft, art and deeply felthumanity.
According to Teresa Mei Chuc, author of Red Thread:Poems, "Nguyen Phan Que Mai's The Secret of Hoa Sen, takes us along thestreets of Vietnam where we meet women bearing ‘stars in the shape ofcarrying poles' and women who are the collectors of garbage who ‘mendtheir lives whole from debris.' Mai is the first Vietnamese author whosecomplete book has been published by BOA Editions. She is also the firstSoutheast Asian poet to be published under the prestigious LannanTranslations Selection Series.
Established in 2002, the LannanTranslations Selection Series publishes two best books of contemporaryinternational poetry in translation each year. The partnership betweenBOA Editions and Lannan assures that high-quality translations ofcontemporary international poetry continue to find publication in theUS.
In 2013, BOA Editions received nearly 100 fully translatedpoetry manuscripts from around the world for the Lannan TranslationsSelection Series. The two collections that were selected were The Secretof Hoa Sen by Mai and Smugglers, a collection of poems by AlesDebeljak, translated from Slovene by Brian Henry.
Mai andtranslator Weigl have spent the past 20 years translating contemporaryVietnamese poetry. Weigl is the author of 13 poetry collections, withthe most recent, Abundance of Nothing, being shortlisted for thePulitzer Prize for poetry in 2013.
As per the book'sintroduction, Weigl wrote: "Nguyen Phan Que Mai's poetry instructs us onhow to live more fully in the world, and reaffirms the power ofclear-headed and direct poetry to transform even our darkest hours intodeeply abiding lessons on the complexities of history, time and love."
Bornin a small North Vietnamese village in 1973, Mai has authored threepoetry collections and translated six. Her literary awards include thePoetry of the Year 2010 Award from the Hanoi Writers Association; andthe Literature and Arts Award from the Hanoi Union of Literature andArts Associations, among others. She is the Honorary Fellow in Writingof Hong Kong Baptist University.
On the occasion of the book'spublication, Mai has been invited for a reading tour in the US. InFebruary 2015, Mai will travel to several American states where she willread poetry and attend workshops at universities and literary centres.-VNA
