VietNamNet Bridge – The jury of the Livre et Mer Festival (Book and the Sea) has announced to present the Grand Prize to Vietnamese writer Bui Ngoc Tan’s “Sea and Kingfisher” novel.


Writer Bui Ngoc Tan and his wife.

This novel was translated into French (La mer et le martin pêcheur) by Ha Tay.

The Livre et Mer Festival was initiated by French writer Henri Queffélec (1910-1992), who wrote a lot of books about the sea, in 1985 to honor the best books about the sea.

The six-member jury of the 28th festival selected six books for the final, including “Du bon usge des étoiles” (How to Use Stars) by Canadian writer Dominique Fortier; “L’arbre dr nuit” (Night Tree) by French writer Francois Bellec, “Le dos crawlé) (Backstroke) by Eric Fottorino, director of the French daily Le Monde; “Sous le vent” (The Ship under Wind) by Belgium painter Jose Pinelli and French writer Jean Bernard Pouy; “Le carnaval des vents en Islande” (Wind Festival in Iceland) by French writer Pilar Hélène Sugersm; and La mer et le martin-pêcheur (Sea and Kingfisher) by Vietnam’s Bui Ngoc Tan.

The Vietnamese book has passed the five competitors to win the Grand Prize. The festival will take place in Concarneu from April 6 to 8. Translator Ha Tay will receive the award on behalf of the author.

“Sea and Kingfisher” was published by Nha Nam Book and the Vietnamese Writers’ Association in 2009 and re-printed in 2010. The French version was released in 2011 by the French publishing house Aube. This is the second book by Bui Ngoc Tan which was published by Aube.

Thanh Van