Best-selling French author Marc Levy at Monday’s press conference in Hanoi.

French writer Marc Levy says he isn’t bothered when critics describe his work as overly commercial, something to read on the subway or at an airport.

The 47-year-old best-selling author was first published in Vietnam in 2003, with his first title Et si c’etait vrai… (If Only It Were True), which was adapted into well-received Hollywood movie “Just Like Heaven” starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo.

His popularity with Vietnamese readers was reinforced when Nha Nam Publishing and Communication Company gained the exclusive deal to translate and publish Levy’s novels in Vietnamese.

Since 2006, seven of his novels have been published in Vietnam, including popular titles Ou es-tu? (Where are you?) and Mes amis, mes amours (My friends, my love).

According to the company, pirate copies of six out of seven Levy’s novels are circulating in Vietnam.

But for Levy, Vietnamese readers have been good to him. Here, he has achieved a pop star-like celebrity status with two fan clubs based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

“It’s a dream that my works are being sold here and being loved by people who speak a different language and who live thousands of miles away,” he said.

In most interviews, Levy always faces questions about why he sticks to “the same old love stories” rather than trying to produce literature.

With more than 15 million copies sold, Levy says he’s happy enough with being able to reach readers.

The French writer says he’s never thought, or cared of winning major literary prizes such as the

Nobel or The Prix Goncourt, considered the most prestigious prize in French literature.

His most recent novel, “All Those Things We Never Said,” published in France in May reached the No.1 on the French bestseller list after one week.

It’s soon to be released in Vietnam, according to Nha Nam Company.

“I usually compare writing to a huge staircase,” he said. “You have to pass the first step in order to reach higher.

“I never ask where I am at in the picture of French contemporary literature. I just know that there’re many readers walking the same path with me.”

Levy’s nine-day tour in Vietnam, sponsored by Nha Nam Publishing and Communication Company and the French Embassy, includes appearances in Hanoi at the French Book Festival and forums at the French Culture Center (L’Espace) and the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Levy will also attend Ho Chi Minh City’s Institute of Cultural Exchange with France later this week.

Reported by Huong Le