Firmament - Le Cercle LittÃ©raire - Tháº¿ Há»¯u VÄn ÄÃ n - The Literary ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Firmament Volume 3, No. 1, April 2010 4 van Gogh - Irises
The Firmament Volume 3, No. 1, April 2010 5 To The Reader Dear Friend and Reader, With the first buds of spring Firmament comes to you packed with the excitement of renewal and hope. We bid without regret a long-awaited farewell to a winter of depressing news where mountainous snowdrifts, floods, and earthquakes dominated the headlines. But the worst of them all struck close to home, and moved us deeply. We sorely miss one of our most respected members, Professor Võ Thu Tịnh, a writer-scholar whose death in Paris in February 2010 left a void not only in our ranks but in the firmament of Vietnamese literature. The francophone world too has lost a faithful friend. From Paris, Lê Mộng Nguyên discussed Victor Hugo and his opposition to the Second Empire, and wrote an ecological poem that had been chosen to represent Vietnam in a UNESCO project. Our jurist-scholar-composer never ceases to surprise, this time with a Vietnamese serenade in sheet music. This issue is graced with the exquisite short stories from David Lý Lãng Nhân, and from Minh Thu, who contributed her work of fiction for the first time. We also savor unexpected turns of events in a novella by our raconteur Bính Hữu Phạm. Phạm knows how to leave his readers with a sense of wonder. Owing to its length the Vietnamese version of Phạm’s long story will appear in July 2010. Đàm Trung Pháp brought us, from his solid polyglot background, living anecdotes of how he learned Spanish by immersing himself in the music and love poetry written in this widely used language. He then turned his attention to contact languages, which he judiciously credited with serving their speakers quite well. He was joined in this topic by David Lý Lãng Nhân, who offers a wealth of examples from his vast experience to enliven the discussion. Wrapping up his contributions to this issue, Đàm gave us a heart-warming introduction to Haiku, a quintessentially “less is more” genre. Showcasing a profile of courage is Phạm Trọng Lệ, who relates the last poem that the Filipino patriot José Rizal had written before his execution by the Spaniards. For feminists, Sóng Việt Ðàm Giang is on a quest for the Vietnamese woman in a series of classical Sino-Vietnamese poems by the revered 19th-century poet Nguyễn Du, which she rendered into modern Vietnamese, then honored Hữu Loan for his spirit and poignant poem Màu Tím Hoa Sim. As always, Kim Châu delights us with her rich collection of Haiku poetry, of which her Zen meditation is, if not the progenitor, at least the inspiration. Other verse in this season of rebirth found expressions from the pens of our usual cast of poets, including Minh Thu, Dr. Nguyễn Hiếu Liêm, Diệp Trung Hà, Hoàng-Tâm, Dã Thảo, David Lý Lãng Nhân. For those who love T’ang style poetry, Diệp Trung Hà introduces Yu Xuanji, a female poet of the T’ang dynasty who had succumbed to a tragic fate. Speaking of Chinese poetry, Phạm Trọng Lệ joins in with his translation of Tsu-yeh's songs of spring and autumn. Renditions of provocative short stories by Australian authors and by another American writer, Ursula Le Guin expertly done by Minh Thu will make you think. In addition she found the time to guide us on a quick tour of Post-Impressionist paintings at the National Gallery of Australia. Finally, with a discussion of Anaximenes, Thomas D. Le completes a survey of the Milesians, who, as part of the Ionians, were the first philosophers-scientists of the Greek world. As winter has receded at the awakening of nature, we hope you will find the time by the window or in your favorite corner to enjoy the rich experience of these pages that always come to you as a celebration of life. ■ Thomas D. Le Thế Hữu Vǎn Ðàn April 2010 To join Thế Hữu Vǎn Ðàn, please link to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thehuuvandan/join Thế Hữu Vǎn Ðàn's web site: http://thehuuvandan.org
Page 1 and 2: The Firmament Volume 3, No. 1, Apri
Page 3: The Firmament Volume 3, No. 1, Apri
Page 55 and 56:
The Firmament Volume 3, No. 1, Apri
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
show all

Firmament - Le Cercle LittÃ©raire - Tháº¿ Há»¯u VÄn ÄÃ n - The Literary ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?

Firmament - Le Cercle LittÃ©raire - Tháº¿ Há»¯u VÄn ÄÃ n - The Literary ...