A poetry reading session happened at MoT+++’s main space, beginning with the writer Maria Sowter, who read the poem “Tiresias” from the book “Hold Your Own” by the English poet Kate Tempest. Sowter was followed by the artist Karma Hương, who asked the audience to close their eyes, and went around blessing each individual audience member using a Tibetan singing bowl, before reading zen poetry in Vietnamese.
Next, writer and curator David Willis read three short poems by Frank O’Hara, as well as the poem “Abuse/Mày” by Cam Xanh in Vietnamese, which he read slowly and methodically, taking care to pronounce the words correctly. Then, the poet and translator Quyen Nguyen from Hanoi read the a poem by Nguyen Quoc Chanh (translating each verse into English after reading it in Vietnamese) as well as playing a recorded poem by Nha Thuyen by holding her phone up to the microphone and translating in real time, allowing her own voice to overlap with that of the recording.
The Poetry Reading was part of Big Day of Performances|Happy Birthday Bill
Location: Ground floor, Saigon Domaine, 1057 Bình Quới, Ward 28, Bình Thạnh District, Saigon, Vietnam
