The Vietnamese epic roused great international interest well before its completion. It was presented at an international seminar in Finland in February 2008 and at a conference in Vietnam in October 2008.
Tarja Halonen and Bguyen Phu Trong, the speaker of the Vietnamese parliament, at a press conference.
Photo: Dat Viet -newspaper
When Finnish President Tarja Halonen visited Vietnam in February 2008, she mentioned the Epic of Vietnam Project in her official celebratory address as an example of noteworthy international cooperation that will improve the visibility of each country’s best expertise.
A Finnish translation of the epic is already underway. The translating work began at the start of 2009, and the Finns will probably be able to read the epic in 2011.
Pekka Hyvönen, the Finnish ambassador to Hanoi, opened the ceremony.
The book release ceremony also featured an exhibition of illustrations from the epic. The epic’s writer Bui Viet Hoa, illustrator Dang Thu Huong, and Finnish experts Professor Pekka Laaksonen and writer Markku Nieminen were all present at the event.
The Vietnamese epic has had an outstanding reception. The book release ceremony was attended by representatives from over forty press agencies and by many Vietnamese scholars. The local UNESCO representative attended the event, and other participants came from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnamese Writers’ Union, the Vietnamese Institute for Literature Studies, the Vietnamese Institute for Heritage Studies, the Folklore Society of Vietnam, and the Vietnamese Artists’ Union, among others.
Links:
Collection of articles about the epic (Word document)Article: Vietnam got it's national epic with Finnish help
Article: Epic poem collection draws together ethnic folk tradition
Article (Look At Vietnam): Epic poem collection draws together ethnic folk tradition