Vietnam Writers Association Awards 2023: Prose "overwhelms" poetry

On February 27, the 2023 Vietnam Writers Association Awards Ceremony took place in Hanoi. Among the six award-winning works, there were three prose works, one poetry work, one critical theory work, and one children's literature work (long story).

Writer Nguyen Binh Phuong, Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association, said the Organizing Committee received 179 entries for the award. The Preliminary and Final Jury selected six entries for the award.

In the Prose category, the three best works include: Novel“From the sixth hour to the ninth hour”(Nguyen Mot); novel“Absolutely no trace”(Nguyen Viet Ha); short story collection“A summer under the trees”(Nguyen Tham Thien Ke).

Poetry Prize goes to:"Lotus Field withered"by poet Nguyen Phuc Loc Thanh. The Criticism Theory Prize belongs to the work“Literary autonomy and the mission of freedom”by two authors Phung Ngoc Kien and Doan Anh Duong. The Children's Literature Award was given to the story collection"Linh fish goes to school"by writer Le Quang Trang.

In the translated literature category, there were 8 works submitted for the award. The Preliminary Council submitted only one work to the Final Council,“Wild Hunter”.However, at the plenary session of the Final Jury, after listening to opinions and analysis from many sides and carefully considering many aspects, the Jury decided to leave the category of Translated Literature blank.

Overall, writer Nguyen Binh Phuong said that the number of works participating in the annual awards basically remained stable, with a fairly even distribution in the two genres of poetry and prose, and critical theory decreased slightly compared to previous years.

According to Mr. Phuong, the most outstanding point of this year's season is the creativity of the creators and the selection committee.

“The works awarded this year demonstrate the courageous and open-minded viewpoint of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association. With poetry, the awardLotus pond witheredIt is a recognition of the quality of a collection of poems with many unique poems and also a celebration of the achievements of an author who is reaching maturity in all aspects, both in his philosophy of life and his technique of expression," said Mr. Phuong.

Besides, Mr. Phuong affirmed that awarding the prose prize to three works with three different styles and three different artistic concepts shows the liberal spirit of the Executive Committee in recognizing and accepting all artistic trends and styles.

Specifically,“Absolutely no trace”Nguyen Viet Ha's works show the mettle of someone who has a firm grasp of technique, daring to take big steps towards mixing genres to find his own formula, both in terms of reflecting human issues in contemporary society and artistic aesthetics.

“From the sixth hour to the ninth hour”Nguyen Mot's works demonstrate courage through an independent, objective perspective on issues that are inherently taken for granted, thereby illuminating the resilient, yet risky, existence of individuals in uncertain, dangerous historical periods and situations.

“A Summer Under the Trees”Nguyen Tham Thien Ke's work is courageous in breaking sentence structure and renewing language in his own way while still creating empathy with the reader.

On this occasion, the Vietnam Writers Association also summarized the first phase of the Children's Literature Creation Campaign (2021-2023). The leaders of the Vietnam Writers Association acknowledged the large number of participating authors, spread across all regions, including Vietnamese authors living and studying abroad.

The ages of the authors are diverse, the oldest is Huynh Sanh Chau, 95 years old, the youngest is Kul Nguyen, 10 years old with the work"Positive",Vu Khanh Huyen is 11 years old."Summer in my hometown".

Besides famous writers, the campaign has the participation of many new faces such as Duong Thi Thao Nguyen, Nguyen Thi Cam Ha, Mai Quyen, Nguyen Phong Viet, Nguyen Xuan Lai...

“The most encouraging thing is that genres that were previously overlooked, such as fantasy and science fiction, are flourishing. The works have limited forced and dogmatic lessons, and instead, focus on stimulating imagination in every small detail of life to educate about humanity,” said writer Nguyen Binh Phuong.

Speaking at the award ceremony, author Nguyen Phuc Loc Thanh said he was extremely honored to receive the award in the Poetry category.

"I consider it a worthy encouragement and reward for a process of persistent work and creativity, for a path of exploration and exploitation, from the wild through the rough, to the smooth of the lục bát style with the unique flavor of Nguyen Phuc Loc Thanh", the author shared.