VN poet’s works published in South Korea

HÀ NỘI — Works by Vietnamese poet Mai Văn Phấn have been published in a collection with South Korean writer Ko Hyung Ryul.

The collection, titled Sinh Đôi Trong Đại Dương (Born as Twins in an Ocean), by Poetry and Expression Publishers, features 60 poems by both poets in Korean.

Phấn’s poems were translated by Bae Yang Soo, a lecturer from Busan Foreign Language University.

Phấn and Ryul met in December 2010 when Phấn was attending the ASEAN Poetry and Literature Festival in South Korea.

Ryul, who is now the editor-in-chief of Modern Poetry magazine, at that time acted as the head of the festival’s organising board.

Since then, the magazine has introduced nearly 20 poems and five critical essays on poetry by Phấn.

Last year, the publishers asked Soo to translate 30 more poems by Phấn for the book.

Phấn, who is based in northern city of Hải Phòng, has won a domestic and international awards, including the Vietnamese Writers’ Association Prize in 2010 and the Swiss Cikada Literature Prize in 2017.

He has published 14 collections, a collection of critiques and an essay on Việt Nam. His poetry has been published overseas and is available on Amazon.

His works have been translated into over 20 languages. — VNS