Major Books co-founder and director Trần Thủy Thiên Kim. Photo tatlerasia.com

More than three years after its founding, Major Books, an independent publisher based in the UK, has introduced to readers around the world several of the most beloved traditional and contemporary works of Vietnamese literature through acclaimed English translations. These include Nguyễn Du's The Tale of Kiều, Nguyễn Đổng Chi's Treasury of Vietnamese Fairy Tales and Vũ Trọng Phụng's Making a Whore, among others.

Trần Thủy Thiên Kim, one of the two co-founders of Major Books, spoke to the media about the appeal of Vietnamese literature.

Could you talk about some of the key milestones in Major Books' journey of publishing Vietnamese literature in translation since the company was founded?

First, the market response has been very encouraging in these early stages. The most enthusiastic readers have been Vietnamese who moved abroad to study or work before settling overseas.

They are followed by second-generation overseas Vietnamese who were born and raised abroad but are eager to reconnect with their cultural roots. The third group consists of young international readers with a passion for literature who are seeking fresh voices beyond the literary traditions that have long dominated the global market.

The United States is currently our strongest market. Our best-selling title so far is the English translation of Làm Đĩ (Making a Whore) by Vũ Trọng Phụng, followed by Treasury of Vietnamese Fairy Tales, retold by Nguyễn Đổng Chi, and Parallel by Vũ Đình Giang.

We have recently expanded our distribution network to Australia and New Zealand, adding to our existing partners across Europe, North America and several Asian markets.

Most of the translators, editors and illustrators working with Major Books are Vietnamese. Why did you choose to build your team in this way?

Literary translation begins with a profound understanding of the original work. Our translators, including Nguyễn Bình and Nguyễn An Lý, work extensively in both Vietnamese and English. They not only possess the skills to render Vietnamese literature into English with accuracy and nuance, but also bring an intimate understanding of the source text that is often difficult for non-Vietnamese translators to achieve.

When we work with Vietnamese translators, we pair them with an English-speaking editor to ensure the translation is as polished as possible. No translation is ever perfect, of course, but we strive to preserve the integrity of the original work while conveying the author's distinctive voice and style.

Looking at the titles Major Books has already published and those in the pipeline, it seems the company has a particular focus on contemporary literature. Is that the case?

Classical literature is, of course, immensely important. But when we founded this publishing house, our goal was to show international readers that Việt Nam has a rich and diverse literary tradition waiting to be discovered – one that extends far beyond phở, coffee or war literature.

Vietnamese literature is very much alive and thriving. Outstanding works continue to be written, and talented authors are still producing remarkable books. It has the creative vitality to keep evolving, rather than remaining confined to the past.

That is why, although English translations of The Tale of Kiều already existed, we chose to launch our publishing programme with Biên Niên Sử Nước (Water: A Chronicle) by contemporary writer Nguyễn Ngọc Tư.

We also see publishing contemporary Vietnamese literature internationally as a way of encouraging writers to continue their work. From our perspective, translated fiction currently dominates the domestic literary market, leaving Vietnamese literature at something of a disadvantage, even in its own country. By supporting contemporary authors, we hope to contribute to the continued vitality and development of Vietnamese literature.

What is Major Books' ultimate goal?

Our primary goal is to publish translations that faithfully preserve the essence of the original works. Ultimately, we hope to secure the place Vietnamese literature deserves on the world literary stage.

War literature is an integral part of modern Vietnamese literature. Following our current series of contemporary Vietnamese works, we plan to begin publishing English translations of selected titles on this theme from the end of this year.

Establishing a publishing house in the UK with the sole aim of bringing Vietnamese literature to English-speaking readers is no easy task. What motivated you and your colleagues to pursue it?

I have been fortunate to build my career in the UK, where I have not had to contend with language barriers. With the support of my family, I have been able to dedicate myself fully to publishing.

Perhaps I belong to what I would call a ‘generation of regret’, one that is trying to make amends for its earlier mistakes. My generation came of age in the early 2000s, when Việt Nam was opening itself more widely to western culture. Like many young people at the time, I was excited by those changes.

We threw ourselves into learning foreign languages and dreamed of studying abroad to explore the world. We listened to international music, watched American films and immersed ourselves in European and American literature.

I specialised in literature from an early age, but my strength was world literature rather than Vietnamese literature. Even when I went abroad for my studies, my research focused on the works of Franz Kafka.

But after more than a decade of studying in the UK, there came a point when I realised something was missing. In the Department of Literature at University College London, there was only one professor specialising in East Asian literature, and the focus was largely on Chinese, South Korean and Japanese writers. Vietnamese literature simply wasn't there.

From that point on, I felt compelled to rediscover my own cultural roots. I immersed myself in Vietnamese literature, reading and studying it with fresh eyes. I realised that before I could share it with the world, I first had to truly know and love it myself.

When the opportunity finally came, I established San Hô Books in Việt Nam and later co-founded Major Books in the UK with my colleagues.

I'm certainly not the only one trying to reconnect with my own identity and share it with international readers through literature. There is a growing movement among young people to rediscover their cultural identity, to better understand and appreciate their roots after realising they had, in some ways, become disconnected from them. — VNS