Author Nguyen Phan Que Mai and her young readers (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) — US publisher Algonquin Books has bought the copyright of a novelwritten in English by Vietnamese author Nguyen Phan Que Mai, who lives inBelgium with her family.
The book, NhungNgon Nui Ngan Vang (The Mountains Sing), is about the life, thoughtsand conflicts of four generations living in a Vietnamese family during wartime.The 300-page book will be released early next year.
The writer, who spentfive years writing in both Vietnamese and English, owns the copyright for thebook’s Vietnamese version.
Mai has written andtranslated dozens of books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and has receivedgrants, fellowships, scholarships and awards from various Vietnamese andinternational organisations.
Her latest book, HatMuoi Rong Choi (A Wandering Grain of Salt), was released last year atthe University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi.
It contains detailsabout Mai’s experiences during trips around the world, and includes threestories “Escaping by an Inch in Laos”, “On the Alert for Being Shot in thePhilippines” and “Australian People Falling into Oblivion”.
In February, Mai wasinvited to read her poems in Vietnamese on Melodically Challenged,a weekly radio show airing on WRAS radio station at Georgia State University inthe US.
On the show, audiencesheard Vietnamese folk songs and music performed by Vietnamese singer andsongwriter Ngo Hong Quang, including the song Bien (Sea) basedon Mai’s poetry.
One of her featuredbooks, Di Tim Banh Chung Banh Day (Searching for Earth Cakesand Sky Cakes), will also be published by the US-based Benchmark Education.
The book features ayoung girl living in Hanoi who discovers her native village and the traditionalculture and lifestyle after her vacation to visit her grandparents.
The book, which is aboutlife and love in a modern society, is expected to be released in Autumn 2018.-VNA
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