VietNamNet Bridge – Seven writers, poets and a translator have won Viet Nam Literature Association Awards for the year 2016.

Way with words: The Viet Nam Literature Association presented its 2016 Literature Award to seven people including poets, novelists, critics and a translator. – Photo thethaovanhoa.vn

The awards were presented last Saturday at the Viet Nam 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 (Homeland 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 in Lotus Leaf) by Khuat Binh Nguyen and Nu Quyen Luan o Phap và Tieu Thuyet Nu Viet Nam Duong Dai (Women’s Rights Discussion 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 award winners has contributed to the diversity of modern Vietnamese literature, said poet and vice chairman of the Viet Nam 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 award, said Chairman of Viet Nam Literature Association, poet Huu Thinh.

Khue’s work Breeze Flowing By was “perfect.” offering a fresh perspective to her work and of 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 the truths, but does not re-evaluate the war and, instead, demonstrates the price of war, apart from bringing together soldiers of 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 Viet Nam’s contemporary 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 well-expressed in the Vietnamese language by Hoan, said Thieu.

The Viet Nam Literature Association also admitted 29 new members, including writers, poets and translators from across Viet Nam 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.

VNS