Vietnamese poetic masterpieces to be translated into Urdu

This information was announced at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony held in Hanoi on October 15 between the Vietnamese Writers' Association and the Pakistan Academy of Letters.

Accordingly, the two sides agreed to hold cultural exchanges and training courses among writers, aiming to introduce literary works and promote the culture and landscape of each country.

Under the MoU, the Vietnamese side will also translate and publish a selection of 100 Pakistani poems.

“Truyện Kiều” is an 18th century poetic masterpiece by Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du (1765-1820) and is widely regarded to be the most significant work of Vietnamese literature with 3,524 verses, written in “Lục bát” (six-eight) verse form. It has been translated into more than 20 languages worldwide.

“Nhật Ký Trong Tù” (“Prison Diary”), written by President Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), is a collection of more than 100 poems written in Chinese characters during 12 months between 1942 and 1943 when Ho Chi Minh was imprisoned in China's Guangxi province.

Over the past 50 years, the work has been translated into many foreign languages and has become the inspiration for both domestic and international artists.