Laos launches contest on Vietnam-Laos special relations

The Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee (LPRPCC) Commission for Communication and Training (CCT) launched a contest on the history of the traditional Vietnam-Laos special relationship in Vientiane on June 6.

Contestants can either take part in the written or oral competition which runs throughout this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2012.

Addressing the launching, LPRPCC Secretary and Head of the CCT, Cheuang Sombounkhan, said that the contest aims to help people in both countries, particularly the younger generation, know more about the history of the time-honoured Vietnam-Laos friendship and also promote the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive co-operation between the two nations.

Writers discuss future of children's literature

Literature for children is a fat land to exploit, writer Phong Diep said at a seminar held by the Vietnamese Writers' Association (VWA) in Ha Noi yesterday, June 7.

The event aimed to provide writers who have written many books for children and representatives of book companies and publishing houses a chance to discuss the current situation of literature and its development.

While many people consider reading culture in Viet Nam to be degrading and many writers complained that they faced difficulties, Diep said writers of children's fiction had many opportunities.

"Previously, only Kim Dong Publishing House released books for children, now the market is full of companies operating in this field," she said, adding "the number of children's books has been increasing and are on display everywhere."

Diep pointed out that translated works held the upper hand in the market of children's books with best-sellers being translated into Vietnamese to help young readers approach the world of literature.

Translator Ta Quang Hiep agreed that translated books are more popular and sold better than the works of Vietnamese writers.
"Together with Vietnamese works, translated books play an important role in literature," he said, "but many translators tend to select superficial books that are merely entertaining and not educative."

"It's necessary to assemble a force of professional translators for children's books," Hiep suggested, "They should understand children and translate what's good for them."

Speaking at the seminar, Le Phuong Lien from the VWA, who has worked as an editor at Kim Dong Publishing House for many years, reviewed the rise and fall of Vietnamese literature in historical periods and emphasised that literature developed and integrated into world literature earlier in the century.

Many Vietnamese books for children have won international prizes such as Vua Nham Mat Vua Mo Cua So (Open the Window, Eyes Closed) by Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, which grabbed the Peter Pan Prize from the International Committee for Children's Books in 2007 in Sweden. Nguyen Nhat Anh's Cho Toi Xin Mot Ve Di Tuoi Tho (Give Me a Ticket Back to Childhood) won the Southeast Asian Writers Award.

Lien desplored the fact that a book is published with 1,000-2,000 copies while the national population is 80 million.
"Many people lack of books to read," she said.

Photo contest to highlight beauty, utility of headgear

A photography contest called Non La Que Huong (Homeland's Conical Leaf Hat) has been launched for both amateur and professional photographers in Viet Nam and abroad.

Photos featuring images of traditional palm-leaf hats like non la (conical leaf hat) and non quai thao (flat hat with fringes) can be submitted to the organisers until June 19.

Luong The Vinh, director of the Nu Cuoi Viet Entertainment Company, which is organising the contest, said it aimed to find and preserve beautiful images of the country, especially its traditional features like the conical hat.

Vinh said selected photos would be uploaded at www.nonlavietnam.vn, a website that preserves all articles and images related to Vietnamese palm-leaf hats so as to promote them internationally.

Free classical concert for Father’s Day

To celebrate Father’s Day on June 17, the Japan Culture Exchange Center will organize a free Japanese classical music concert at 27 Quang Trung Street, Hoan Kiem District in the capital at 8 p.m. on June 15.

As part of a series of outdoor concerts to be arranged by the center, the program features violinist Nguyen My Huong, cellist Nguyen Hong Anh and pianist Tran Thai Linh from the Vietnam National Academy of Music. Besides immortal pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonin Dvorak, the trio will also play other works by Japanese composers like Taki Rentaro and Yokoyama Shin-Ichiro.

Nations around the world honor dads on Father’s Day which falls on the third Sunday of June.

VNN/VNS/VOV/ND/SGT