The awards were presented on January 14 at the Vietnam Literature Museum.
The seven award-winning works included: a short story collection, Lan Gio Chay Qua (Breeze Flowing By) by Le Minh Khue; a novel, Mua Do (Red Rain) by Chu Lai; an anthology of poems entitled To Quoc Nhin Tu Bien (The Fatherland Seen from the Sea) by Nguyen Viet Chien; and another entitled Vu Khuc Tay (Tay Dances) written in Vietnamese and the Tay ethnic minority language by poet Y Phuong.
The other award winners were non-fiction works Giot Nuoc trong La Sen (Water Droplet on a Lotus Leaf) by Khuat Binh Nguyen and Nu Quyen Luan o Phap and Tieu Thuyet Nu Viet Nam Duong Dai (A Discussion of Women’s Rights in France and Contemporary Vietnamese Female Novelists) by Tran Huyen Sam; and Nguyen Chi Hoan’s translation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.
A total of 174 literary works were nominated for the award this year, including 66 poems, 78 works of prose, 19 reviews and 11 translations. The winning works provided different perspectives on contemporary issues in the country.
The creativity of the award winners has contributed to the diversity of modern Vietnamese literature, said poet and vice chairman of the Vietnam Literature Association Nguyen Quang Thieu.
While Nguyen Viet Chien’s poems were themed around the seas and islands in the country, Y Phuong focused on traditional culture in a modern world, he said.
Le Minh Khue’s work conveyed humane messages while Chu Lai wrote of war in his poems. Both works both touched on contemporary problems in the country. The works of the two poets, Y Phuong and Nguyen Viet Chien, covered different themes in different styles and deserved the awards, said Chairman of the Vietnam Literature Association, poet Huu Thinh.
Khue’s work Breeze Flowing By was “perfect,” offering a fresh perspective on her work and on history, Thinh said.
The novel Red Rain by Chu Lai looks back at the war fought in Quang Tri Province through the eyes of a soldier in the post-war period. Therefore, the work relates truths, but does not reevaluate the war and, instead, demonstrates the cost of war, aside from bringing together soldiers from both sides, said Thieu.
He also said that this year, an award was given for the first time for a purely critical work, discussing the expression of women’s rights in contemporary Vietnamese novels. This is one of the few works that focuses entirely on women’s rights, he added.
The jury highly valued the translation of Wolf Hall by Nguyen Chi Hoan. The novel suggests a new way of writing in the historical novel genre and presents interesting facts in world history, as well as the culture and customs of Europe during the Medieval period.
All of these aspects were expressed well in the Vietnamese language by Hoan, said Thieu.
The Vietnam Literature Association also admitted 29 new members, including writers, poets and translators from across Vietnam and abroad. The authors admitted this year are those who have proven their talent and commitment through notable works, said poet Tran Dang Khoa, the association’s vice chairman.
