(VOVworld) – Many writers have written about their great love for Hanoi. A recent book fair in Hanoi featured hundreds of books about Vietnam’s capital city. Ky Lan reports:

Hanoi’s rich history, culture, and architecture have inspired a great number of Vietnamese writers. Poet Vu Quan Phuong expressed his feelings for Hanoi in the poem “Confidence of a house” in his collection “Hanoi, love poems of 10 centuries”. Phuong said: “I was inspired by the house at the end of the city which bordered a rice field. I imagined the house as a person who saw people evacuating the city and welcomed vehicles to serve ongoing battles on the streets. The house connected busy city life with a quiet rural landscape. The poem is a part of my memories of Hanoi and my poetry is always about Hanoi.”

Hanoi imbued special feelings in Hanoi researcher and writer Do Phan, who said his lifetime masterpiece is a book about Hanoi. Literary critic Nguyen Hoai Nam said: “Whatever he writes relates to Hanoi, the old Hanoi of the subsidy time that he experienced. Any one born in the 1950s and 1960s would understand his attitude towards Hanoi because he writes based on the images in his mind, not using any documents. This, perhaps, has created a strong effect.”

Phan has written 13 books including novels about Hanoi. He does not mention the name Hanoi but by reading his books one can feel the vibrancy and vitality of this one-thousand-year old city. Phan said: “I was born and have lived in Hanoi for 60 years. I was particularly impressed with the changes here. The houses and the streets have been made more modern and convenient. These changes prompted me to write about Hanoi’s cultural characteristics in the hope that they will be maintained even in the era of global integration.”

Hanoi has been an unforgettable memory for overseas Vietnamese like Le Minh Ha from Germany. The 24 short stories in her collection “Unexpected acquaintances” draw a lively picture of a developing Hanoi. Ha said: “I’ve traveled and written a lot and I’ve always wanted to write about Hanoi, one that is less busy and more spacious than today. I regret the passing of the time when one could smell the fragrance of the flowers on every street corner. Those memories are no longer realistic as life goes on. I believe that Hanoi will become more or less as it was in the past and this will be your unforgettable memory as ours was in our time.”