The Tale of Kieu translated by Nguyen Do & Paul Hoover

Nguyễn Du’s monumental epic poem, “The Tale of Kiều”, comprising 3,254 verses in Vietnamese, portrays the extraordinary journey of Thúy Kiều - a beautiful, talented young woman from a modest family who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her father and younger brother from wrongful imprisonment. She sells herself into a marriage with an older man, unbeknownst to her that he is a pimp who sells her into prostitution. This remarkable work contains one of Vietnamese literature’s earliest portrayals of sex work while simultaneously reflecting on Vietnam’s rich history and cultural heritage.

Seeking to bridge linguistic worlds, Vietnamese poet Nguyen Do and American poet Paul Hoover are collaborating on a bilingual translation that illuminates both Vietnamese historical context and universal themes of love, fate, and social injustice.

We invite you to join us on this meaningful journey.

Background of translators:

Nguyen Do is the author of 13 books, while Paul Hoover has published 17 books.

As a team, we have translated several significant works:

“Black Dog, Black Night,” an anthology of contemporary Vietnamese poetry (Milkweed Editions, 2008; eBooks, iBooks, nookBooks editions, 2011)

“Beyond the Court Gate,” selected poetry of Nguyen Trai (Counterpath Press, 2010)

“12+3,” selected poetry of Thanh Thao, bilingual edition edited (Association Writers of Vietnam, 2008)

“Returning to Con Son,” selected poetry of Nguyen Trai, bilingual edition edited and with photographs and poems in six-eight Vietnamese traditional version by poet Nguyen Duy (Saigon Culture Publisher, 2009)

Project Timeline and Budget:

For transparency, this international poetry project will be in two phases.

Year 1: Research Phase - $50,000

Deliverables

1. Selection of ancient Chinese-Vietnamese, modern Vietnamese and English documents of “The Tale of Kiều “by Nguyễn Du

2. International & local transportation, board, and lodging costs for research at major universities in Vietnam and U.S.

Year 2: Development Phase

Deliverables

1. Translation and development

2. Publication, marketing & promotion

Thank you for your support.

NGUYEN DO & PAUL HOOVER