Rock fans in Ha Noi were among the first ones to enjoy new releases by the HCM City-based rock band Microwave when the group released their newest album 10 in the city yesterday.

Microwave had a mini-show last night in Ha Noi after the release of their latest album, Exit. — Photo courtesy of Microwave band

Featuring 10 songs composed by all four members, "the album is to mark a decade since the group released their debut album Loi Thoat (The Exit) in 2005", the band leader and guitarist Tran Tung explained about the simple name of the album.

According to Tung, each song was written from their own personal experience, exposing their inner thoughts about life and the surrounding world.

Together with the official release in Ha Noi, the nu metal and alternative rock band also staged a mini show with two guest bands, Bui Gio, and Oringchains, in the city last night for about 500 people.

"Surprisingly, we have a great number of fans as well as a close connection with the rockers' community in the capital city, that's why we decided to have our first show to promote the album right here, instead of HCM City," Tung said.

After Ha Noi, the band will hold other performances in Da Nang, Can Tho and HCM City to promote the album.

In HCM City, Microwave will also release the LP version of the album.

"We will also broadcast a short music film created from four seperate music videos," Tung said at a press conference yesterday.

Founded in 2001, Microwave released their debut nu metal album Loi Thoat, Exit, in 2005 featuring the song Tim Lai (Found it Back), which then became a hit of the year and rocketed the band to fame.

The band is also a regular at the annual Rock Storm festival– the biggest rock event in Viet Nam. In 2009, they released their second album Thoi Gian, which features modern rock songs. The album won the ‘Golden Album' award in January 2010 at a monthly competition hosted by HCM City Television.

Under-40 writing contest to be held in HCM City

Young writers have been invited to enter a writing contest organised by three prestigious national organisations.

The 2016 National Writing Competition for Young Writers, organised by the HCM City Writers' Association, Tre (Youth) Publishing House, and Tuoi Tre (The Youth) newspaper, will offer prizes in the categories of fiction and short stories.

The contest's theme focuses on the lives of young people and their challenges and dreams in a globalised world.

Organisers hope the biennial competition, which has been held since 2000, will give writers under 40 a chance to develop their careers and bring writers and publishers together to offer new, quality books to readers.

Authors Nguyen Ngoc Tu and Nguyen Thanh Son will be part of the jury.

While Son is a movie critic from HCM City, Ca Mau-based Tu was honoured with the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2008. The award is given annually by the Thai royal family to encourage and honour poets and writers in the region.

Many chosen entries will be published by Tre Publishing House.

Each participant must submit no fewer than 10 short stories or a novel of no more than 300 pages of A4 paper.

They should mail their works to the contest organisers at 161B Ly Chinh Thang Street, District 3, HCM City or @vanhoctuoi20@nxbtre.com.vn

The prize winners will be announced in 2018.

Previous winners who have gone on to become popular among young readers include Nguyen Ngoc Thuan and Nguyen Huong.

Filmmaker Tran Van Thuy to host talk in Hoi An

Film director Tran Van Thuy will host a meet-and-greet Monday with students and spectators in the central region to discuss his 30-year journey and filmmaking career.

The open dialogue, which will be held at Hoi An-based private Phan Chau Trinh College, will focus on the journey of his 1985 documentary Chuyen Tu Te (Living as One Should).

The documentary film, which is one of Thuy's most distinctive productions, won the Silver Dove award at the Leipzig International Film Festival in 1988. It was screened at 100 seminars and film festivals in France, Germany, US, Australia, Austria, Belgium and other countries.

The 75-year-old director also plans to talk about the joys and troubles he experienced during his career, and will introduce some of his clips.

The talk is free to visitors and begins at 1.30pm Monday at the college's hall, No 2 Tran Hung Dao Street in Hoi An.

Paper artist, painter open exhibit

Artisan Than Van Huy, who sparked the revival of a Hue's paper flower making village, is running an exhibition of his and veteran painter Dang Mau Tuu's paintings in the city.

Themed spring inspirations, the exhibition displays 28 outstanding paintings by Huy and Tuu, including 14 oil paintings that Huy painted from the 1970s to now.

Huy's collection features many topics, including the zen inside lotus flowers, the beauty of his home city of Hue, and the illusion of traditional values in modern timew.

The exhibition opened for free entrance on Thursday and runs until the third of January next year at 26 Le Loi Street, Hue City.

The exhibition marks Huy's comeback as a painter after years working on the revival and the development of his home village's craft, the Thanh Tien paper flower making village.

In the 2000s, Huy found the ruin of the craft, which originated in 16th century, and started researching the crafts history. In 2006, he and his younger brother revived an old unique technique and used it to make paper lotus flowers.

The debut of Huy's paper lotus in 2007 brought the village craft back from extinction and the village's lotus flower and its original paper flower now have a firm market around the country.

Huy then handed over his business to to his brother and son to be a painter again. "Painting gives me the feeling of zen," he said. "I feel the world deeply from my soul with a pen in hand so coming back to art is amazing."

VNS