On the afternoon of March 16, 2024, a discussion revolving around the works The Ants trilogy and Pandora’s Box named “Meeting writer Bernard Werber” took place at the National Library of Viet Nam. The event was jointly organized by the National Library of Viet Nam, the French Institute in Ha Noi and Nha Nam Culture and Communication Joint Stock Company.
Attending the discussion, from the delegate side, were Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dung – Director of the National Library of Viet Nam and Ms. Sophie Maysonnave – Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy, Director of the French Institute. The event also welcomed the large participation of more than 200 library readers and the public.
Bernard Werber is considered the Jules Verne of modern times and is one of the most widely read contemporary French writers in the world. He is especially famous for his trilogy of novels about Ants, including: Ants, Ant’s Day and Ant’s Revolution. The novel won the Sciences et Avenir magazine's Readers' Choice award and was translated into more than 30 languages including Vietnamese.
Through the discussion led by literary critic Quyen Nguyen, Bernard Werber shared deeply about the content, themes, and style of the Ants trilogy - notably the mixture of many genres: science fiction, detective, philosophical contemplation..., through the personification of ants to contemplate the position of humans. Besides, the author sincerely discussed about his writing experience, the discipline in writing, and how to find and choose inspirational topics to create a literary work. On this occasion, Bernard Werber also introduced the work “Pandora's Box”, his humorous and bold novel recently translated into Vietnamese and published by Nha Nam, to Vietnamese readers.
Not only limited to the content of The Ants trilogy and the novel Pandora's Box, the discussion also received lively exchanges from readers, journalists, writers, and researchers participating the event. They discussed with writer Bernard Werber and literary critic Quyen Nguyen about the development of print books and e-books, the influence of artificial intelligence and especially how to maintain passion in the process of creating literary works.
Photos of the same event:
Two speakers at the Discussion
Readers asked questions to writer Bernard Werber
Writer Bernard Werber signed autographs and took souvenir photos with readers
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News and photos: Duong Huong Giang