Launching the book "Nguyen Lai - Collection of literary works" on the occasion of the first year since the Teacher passed away

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Lai, former Head of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi National University - a very dear and respected teacher of many generations of students of the Faculty of Literature - passed away on September 27, 2019 (August 29, Ky Hoi year) in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province. He left this temporary world exactly 1 year ago.

Mr. Nguyen Lai's passing has left in the memories of his colleagues and students everywhere the image of a friend, a teacher full of enthusiasm, always loving life and full of compassion. He was a talented scientist with the soul of a great artist.

Throughout his scientific career, he published hundreds of large and small works that were highly appreciated by scholars at home and abroad. But besides the huge scientific legacy that made Nguyen Lai famous as a linguist, there are still a large number of literary works that show the artist's qualities in him. Those are prose works that, as he shared, "Most of them were written in the difficult conditions of the years of fighting against America to save the country. Therefore, the so-called art here certainly has times and pages that are just events and hearts". But according to him, "those events and hearts themselves already carry the beauty and aesthetics of art". And he wrote, wrote persistently because he believed that "What has passed needs to be recorded to be useful".

Before leaving, the Master had a wish that these compositions would be collected and printed into a book. Through the book, the Master wished to convey his boundless love for his homeland, his country, his life, and the career to which he had devoted his entire life.

To fulfill that wish, with the support of the Vietnam Linguistics Association and the Faculty of Linguistics, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, a group of his students in Nha Trang and Hanoi (headed by Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Tinh) joined hands, in a very short time, to organize the manuscript and publish it (including taking care of the publishing costs).

Attending the book launch were many teachers from two faculties - Faculty of Literature and Faculty of Linguistics, including many former teachers who had worked with Mr. Lai in the past years. Faculty of Literature had the participation of Prof. Nguyen Kim Dinh, Prof. Le Huy Tieu, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Gia Lam, Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien; Faculty of Linguistics had: Prof. Le Quang Thiem, Prof. Hoang Trong Phien, Prof. Dinh Van Duc, Prof. Nguyen Thien Giap, Prof. Vu Duc Nghieu, Prof. Tran Tri Doi, Prof. Nguyen Van Hiep, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Con, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Viet Thanh, Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Huu Dat, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Thanh Lan, Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Thi, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Hong Hanh, Dr. Le Thi Thu Hoai, Dr. Duong Xuan Quang, Dr. Truong Nhat Vinh...; Vietnam Linguistics Association had Prof. Nguyen Van Khang, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hoa, Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Huu Hoang, Dr. Pham Thi Coi, MSc. Pham Hai Trieu, Dr. Tran Dai Nghia, MSc. Dao Van Hung, MSc. Vu Xuan Hien, Dr. Bui Thi Ngoc Anh...; Dr. Nguyen Phuong Anh (Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi); Mr. Bui Tuan (VNU, Hanoi), Ms. Nguyen Thi Diep (Heritage Center of Vietnamese Scientists)... Notably, the meeting was also attended by the eldest son and his wife who came from Nha Trang.

The book was published on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Teacher's death, as a tribute to the friend and respected Teacher of colleagues, students and all those who love the scientific personality and artistic soul of Nguyen Lai.