What would it be like if the experience of encountering literature were to move beyond the boundaries of the printed page? And what if poems and passages from novels were to become living sounds resonating through the summer night of Hanoi, breathing in rhythm with the city itself, with moments of gathering and connection unfolding in the most unexpected settings?

Taking place within the framework of European Literature Days, Summer Nights of Literature is an immersive literary experience of reading and listening, in which remarkable works of contemporary European and Vietnamese literature are read aloud across multiple locations over the course of a single evening. Participants are invited to embark on a journey, moving from one site to another. In each space, listeners will encounter a performed reading of an excerpt from a notable literary work rooted in a different cultural context. Walking through shifting physical spaces while simultaneously travelling through diverse literary landscapes promises a truly distinctive experience.

Centered on the theme “Loneliness and Solidarity in Literature”, Summer Nights of Literature presents selected excerpts from European and Vietnamese literary works that explore experiences of solitude and isolation in urban life. How do different cities, shaped by distinct cultural and literary traditions and filtered through the perspectives of individual writers, give rise to both shared and divergent forms of loneliness?

This event is part of European Literature Days, an annual literary festival organised by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Vietnam and takes place at the following venues:

• Goethe-Institut Hanoi

• Embassy of the Czech Republic

• Embassy of Ukraine

• Embassy of the Slovak Republic