HA NOI – American War veteran and poet Bruce Weigl is in Viet Nam for the launch of his poetical memoir After the Rain Stopped Pounding.
Weigl will participate in several discussions and literary exchanges during his visit which began last Friday.
Weigl, whose name is familiar in literature about the American War, has published several poetical anthologies, including The Monkey Wars and Song of Napalm which earned him a Pulitzer Prize-nomination in 1988.
Weigl was granted the Lannan Literary Award in Poetry in 2006.
In addition to writing poetry, Weigl worked with editor and translator Thanh T. Nguyen of the Joiner Research Centre to translate poems of liberation soldiers captured during war.
Weigl will recite his poems during the Friends poetry programme at the Quang Tri Old Citadel tonight.
The venue was among the fiercest battlefields of the American War and Vietnamese veterans who are members of varied poetry clubs will join the programme.
Weigl will also exchange views with Song Huong (Perfume River) Magazine which publishes creative writing, reviews and cultural research culture and literature central Hue Province.
He also will present his memoir The Circle of Hanh in Ha Noi on Wednesday. First published in the US in 2000 , the memoir is his own story about his struggles with drugs and alcohol after the war and his subsequent redemptive return to Viet Nam, where he adopted an eight-year-old girl, Hanh.
The launch of After the Rain Stopped Pounding, which has been translated into Vietnamese by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, will take place at the University of Culture, 418 La Thanh Road, Ha Noi at 7.30pm on Thursday.
Weigl will talk about trends in American poetry on the night. – VNS
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