KIỀU LESEN – READING KIỀU
A self-organized, volunteer-run reading series.
Fall-Winter 2026 · 4 Saturdays at parallelgesellschaft × Galerie Nord
Turmstraße 75, 10551 Berlin-Moabit
Truyện Kiều — The Tale of Kiều — is one of the most celebrated works of Vietnamese literature. In the West, it remains barely known. What does it have to say to us now?
For 15 years, Thúy Kiều is married off, traded, betrayed. She takes revenge, loves against the rules of her time, despairs — and returns, changed. The text is still contested: claimed for the nation, reread by feminists, passed down in diaspora families often as no more than a single remembered line.
Kiều Lesen – Reading Kiều is a 4-session reading circle held over the fall, open to anyone curious about the poem — with or without prior knowledge of it. Sessions move between introduction, close reading, practice, and film, across German, English, and some Vietnamese.
This small series is independently run and organized entirely on a volunteer basis by members of the Tracing Kiều team and its network. Graphic design by Lan Linh Lê, incorporating the illustration Das Mädchen Kiều by Claudia Borchers. We warmly thank the collective parallelgesellschaft × Galerie Nord for their support in providing us with a space to realize this project free of charge.
Free admission, donations welcome. Registration appreciated: https://forms.gle/kmqtXa9w2sJQ9Yxg9
Session 1
Saturday, 12 September 2026, 17:00–18:30
The Tale of Kiều: An Introduction
Die Geschichte der Kiều: Eine Einführung
Musical opening by Lotus Quartett.
Introduction by Dr. Trương Hồng Quang: From Nguyễn Du’s ‘Truyện Kiều’ to Irene and Franz Faber’s German rendition ‘Das Mädchen Kiều’
Hybrid poetry performance Hoa Trôi by Dạ Thảo Phương, with Phạm Quỳnh Nga, Trương Hồng Quang, Amelie Mai Gottsmann, Alisa Anh Kotmair — and the audience.
Held mainly in German, with some Vietnamese and English.
Session 2
Saturday, 31 October 2026, 17:00–18:30
Crossings: Voice, Music, and the Spaces Between
Kreuzungen: Stimme, Musik und Zwischenräume
Dọc Ngang / Across and Beyond — a new performance by Dạ Thảo Phương, developed with Marcus Vu, JP Bouzac, Lotus Duo, and more.
Closes with a verse drawn in the bói Kiều tradition — a folk practice of opening the poem at random, especially around Tết (Vietnamese new year), and reading whatever verse appears as a form of guidance, offered here for reflection and inspiration.
Held in German & English, with some Vietnamese.
Session 3
Saturday, 21 November 2026, 17:00–18:30
Reading Film, Reading Kiều
Film lesen, Kiều lesen
Film (TBD) and discussion, exploring how Kiều’s themes resurface in contemporary cinema. Closes with a verse drawn in the bói Kiều tradition. Held in German & English.
Session 4
Saturday, 5 December 2026, 17:00–18:30
Kiều and Her Roles in a Changing Society
Kiều und ihre Rollen in einer Gesellschaft im Wandel
Group reading and discussion, following Kiều through her shifting roles across the poem — daughter, courtesan, concubine, and, briefly, partner and counsel to Từ Hải — closing on the decision that ends his life, and on what her final turn to a contemplative life means after it. Closes with a verse drawn from bói Kiều. Held in German & English.