Thieu will be the first Vietnamese author to receive the Changwon KC International Literary Prize, an award for foreign poets and writers aged from 50-65 who have contributed to Korean and international literature.

 “For an author, it’s wonderful when readers enjoy their work,” he said.

“I’m especially happy to be recognised by an international literature council. I feel moved that poetry still receives sympathy and love from many readers.

“This is not just an honour for me; it’s a good chance for Vietnamese and Korean writers to share experience and learn about one another."

Thieu was born in 1957 in Hanoi, and is currently vice chairman of the Viet Nam Writers’ Association. He has received many domestic and international literary awards. He has published more than 500 books, newspapers, essays and screenplays in Vietnamese and foreign languages.

The bilingual edition of The Women Carry River Water (1997), translated by poet Martha Collins with assistance from translator Nguyen Ba Chung, marked the first English translation of a collection of poems by a Vietnamese writer in the post-1975 generation, and received an award from The National Translation Association of America in 1998. — VNS