VietNamNet Bridge – An arts programme of music, poems and plays will be held at the Ha Noi Opera House on August 26 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of renowned Vietnamese poets and married couple Luu Quang Vu and Xuan Quynh.

An arts programme will be held at the Hanoi Opera House on August 26 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of renowned Vietnamese poets and couple Lưu Quang Vu and Xuan Quynh. — Photo vtv.vn

The programme, entitled Tinh Yeu O Lai (Love Remains), is jointly held by Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper, Youth Theatre and channel VTV3 of Vietnam Television. It will be aired on channel VTV1 of Vietnam Television on August 28.

Speaking at the press conference on Wednesday, journalist Luu Quang Dinh, editor-in-chief of Nong Thon Ngay Nay newspaper and also younger brother of poet Vu, said that the arts programme will take place for one night only to revive most beautiful memories about two talented Vietnamese poets in the hearts of both friends and audience members.

Love Remains will include three parts – the recital of poems and poems set to music by two authors; untold stories about the couple revealed via their friends’ affectionate recollections; and an excerpt from Vu’s famous play Hoa Cuc Xanh Tren Dam Lay (Green Daisy on the Marsh).

Directed by artist Chi Trung, the arts show will also have the participation of director Pham Thi Thanh together with many others like artist Doan Chau, Le Khanh and Le Chuc.

Vu was born in the northern province of Phu Tho, although his father, playwright Luu Quang Thuan, came from the central province of Quang Nam.

Vu served as a soldier in the anti-American War from 1965-70, when his poems began to gain recognition. But it was in the 1980s that he became a celebrated poet, writing about life in the post-war period and the process of national renewal in the late 1980s.

His dramas, short stories and poems were charactised by their gritty realism and great humanity. He wrote some 50 dramas, most of which criticise the darker side of society, especially corruption and authoritarian behaviour. Many of them earned high literary acclaim.

He was married to fellow poet Xuan Quynh. The couple died in a car crash in 1988 when travelling from Hai Phong City back to their home in Hanoi. Their 12-year-old son Luu Quynh Tho was also killed in the accident.

The country’s highest awards, the Ho Chi Minh Prize in Art and Literature, were posthumously given to Vu in 2000 and Quynh in 2017.

A variety of arts programmes will also be organised to commemorate the couple’s 30th death anniversary, including a conference and the performance of Vu’s play Nguon Sang Trong Doi (Life’s Light) held by the Viet Nam Stage Artists’ Association on August 20, and another conference hosted by the Viet Nam Writers’ Association on August 28.

Dinh said that his family is planning to ask the Ha Noi’s People’s Committee to name a street in the city after Luu Quang Vu and Xuan Quynh. Da Nang City already has a street named Luu Quang Vu and HCM City has a street called Xuan Quynh.

Source: VNS