Program Description
Event Details
This is an in-person event. Masks may be required and social distancing protocol will be followed.
San Diego Public Library presents a special 2022 National Poetry Month celebration of one of Vietnam's cultural treasures, The Tale of Kiều (Truyện Kiều) with UCSD Vietnamese Heritage Program professor, Kimloan Hill. This program is SDPL’s 200th anniversary celebration of The Tale of Kiều that was canceled at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
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Written by Nguyễn Du (1766–1820), The Tale of Kiều is the epic national poem of Vietnam, widely regarded as one of the most significant works of Vietnamese literature. In 3,254 verses, the poem recounts the life, trials, and tribulations of Thúy Kiều, a beautiful and talented young woman who sacrifices herself to save her family. The Tale of Kieu occupies a place akin to the work of Shakespeare in the English language, with students studying it in school and adults alluding to it in daily conversation.
Dr. Kimloan Hill is a lecturer in Vietnamese language and culture at UCSD. She's a scholar of Southeast Asian history with a focus on colonial Vietnam. Her interests include the impact of wars and regime changes on the life of Vietnamese people, especially on the role of women and familial, economic, and social practices. Her published works include Coolies into Rebels—Impact of World War I on French Indochina and numerous articles published in European and American journals. She serves as a consultant in Vietnamese language to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Defense Language Institute (DLI).
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Literature Talk is is an occasional library series of presentations and discussions designed as a fun opportunity for serious book lovers to exchange views with fellow readers and college professors who know or teach the books in their classes.