Acclaimed British children’s writer to visit Hanoi on European days

Andy Stanton, author of the well-received British children series ‘Mr. Gum’ will visit Hanoi as part of the European Literature Days. The award-winning author will be present at the National Library at No. 31, Trang Thi Street from 11 to 12 May.

The English children’s writer has written 10 books in ‘Mr. Gum’ series.  The series follow the crazy adventures of Polly, a kind-hearted nine-year-old girl with her friend, Friday, an eccentric oldish man. They have to watch out Mr. Gum, the wickedly funny villain who hates children, animals, fun and corn on the cob. The books are full of laugh-out-loud moments and have won numerous prizes including the coveted Roald Dahl Funny Prize Award.

Andrew Staton’s visit follows an exciting contest held in March by British Council and Nha Nam Publishing House for young people to contribute their own ideas to the Mr Gum series. During his stay in Vietnam, Staton will award prizes to winners of the contest, have an interactive meeting with fans and participate in a roundtable meeting with Vietnamese writers and translators on the topics “Building bridges with books: Bringing foreign literature to Vietnam” and “Writing for Children”.

The European Literature Days is hosted by the European Union of National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in collaboration with National Library. Books from Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark and Poland, which have recently published in Vietnamese translations, will be presented. In addition to publishers’ book stalls would be many intriguing activities such as readings and discussions, presentations and children’s programs. Further details about the schedule can be found at the Hanoi Goethe Institute official website.