First published in 1986 in Red Scarf, a children’s newspaper, this poem was originally written for a one-year-old child, the son of the poet’s friend. The musician Giap Van Thach created a song based on the poem that went on to be incredibly popular in Vietnam, much to the surprise of the original poet.
This is a great opportunity to experience the translation process first-hand and explore Vietnamese language and culture. It’s a great opportunity to develop your translation skills and meet like-minded language lovers.
There is no need to know Vietnamese to take part in this workshop. Everyone is welcome.
Poet Do Trung Quan
Do Trung Quan is a Vietnamese poet. Many of his poems are set to music and loved by many people such as Homeland, Phuong Hong. He is also known as MC for music programs or actor for several TV series.
Guest translator Quynh Nguyen
Quynh Nguyen is the founder, CEO and Head Teacher of the Vietnamese Family Partnership, a charity based in Deptford dedicated to serving the local Vietnamese community through cultural events and language classes. She moved to London from Vietnam in 1994. Prior to setting up the VFP, Quynh worked for the NHS as a Public Health Programme Manager specialising in mental health for 15 years.
Poet-facilitator Chrissy Williams
Each season of PTC translation workshops is led by a poet. In this case we are delighted to be working with poet, editor and comic book writer Chrissy Williams. Her writing has been featured on BBC radio and television, and her full poetry collections are Bear (Bloodaxe, 2017) and Low (Bloodaxe, 2021). She edits the online poetry journal Perverse, and has run numerous workshops over the years. She has an Italian mother and English father, and was raised bilingually.
