That was the opinion of poet Le Vinh Thai - Vice President of the Union of Literature and Arts Associations of Hue City, Editor-in-Chief of Song Huong Magazine, Head of the Organizing Committee of the "Song Huong Short Story 2024" contest at the closing ceremony and award ceremony held on the afternoon of March 21. A large number of artists, writers, poets of Hue and writers from all over the country attended.

Author Le Vi Thuy (right) was awarded First Prize in the "Huong River Short Story Contest 2024"

More than 210 short stories by nearly 200 authors entered the contest

According to the Organizing Committee, after 1 year from the launch of the contest in early January to the end of the contest on December 31, 2024, more than 210 short stories from nearly 200 authors from all regions of the country and Hue authors were submitted to the contest. Of which, more than 50 short stories from nearly 50 authors were selected to be published in the Huong River Magazine.

With a large number of works, the preliminary selection committee evaluated, selected and introduced 63 works to the preliminary round. The preliminary selection committee evaluated and selected 25 works to introduce to the final round. From there, the final selection committee evaluated, met to consider and selected 11 excellent works based on the scores and prize structure proposed to the organizing committee. After the meeting, the organizing committee agreed with the proposal of the final selection committee and selected 11 works to award prizes, including 1 First prize, 2 Second prizes; 3 Third prizes and 5 Encouragement prizes.

Poet Le Vinh Thai commented that this short story contest has many topics of interest and written by authors, which are about the homeland and people of Vietnam; about the resistance war against the US to save the country of the nation; thoughts and concerns about today's life of young, new writers. In particular, the topic of Hue has received much attention from many authors, and is included in their works. The image of Hue homeland has been portrayed by authors in many works, which are the natural landscape, history, heritage, culture and people of Hue; Hue, a developing city, a green city, a livable city...

Meanwhile, from a professional perspective, literary researcher, Dr. Phan Tuan Anh - Deputy of the Final Jury of the contest, was confused by the uneven quality of the works submitted for the contest. Many stories made this literary researcher personally read them over and over again but still could not come to an agreement or conclusion about the final score. Comparing scores between works became even more difficult, because each story was written with a very different style, writing style, plot, form and technique, leading to every clarification always being lame.

The "reunion" of the young, dynamic generation of writers

The contest organizers awarded prizes to the authors.

The new point of this contest, according to the Deputy of the Final Jury, is a new, young and dynamic generation of writers in the country's literary life. They are Nguyen Hanh Phuoc An, Thao Giang, Nguyen Van Duc Anh, Le Hang, Nguyen Nguyen, Tru Sa, Pham Giai Quynh, Le Kim Son, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Mac Yen, Nguyen Dang Thuy Trang, Ho Loan, Nguyen Thi Nhu Hien, Truong Tue Dang...

“Their writing style is new, bold, accepting experiments in short story creation such as magical elements, matrix narratives, intertextuality… The way this generation of young writers perceives issues of identity and ethics is also very different. As a new generation of writers – writers in the context of globalization, many of their works have delved into the negotiation and collision between traditional Hue/Vietnamese culture and contemporary world culture”, Dr. Phan Tuan Anh analyzed.

Not stopping there, the judges of this contest evaluated the stories that often have space, time and place associated with Hue. Many beautiful, nostalgic memories of the characters are associated with famous landmarks in the ancient capital. "I call that the identity of the ancient capital Hue in the short stories participating in the contest organized by Song Huong Magazine. Readers can almost open any story and see characters with memories associated with Hue, whether near or far, whether little or much, whether past or present", Dr. Phan Tuan Anh added.

The short story "Da Quynh" by Le Vi Thuy was awarded First Prize.

The short story contest with the theme "Perfume River Short Stories 2024" was organized and launched, contributing to the propaganda and construction of Hue City, a centrally-run city. At the same time, it celebrates the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Hue City (March 26, 1975 - March 26, 2025); towards the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025) and summarizes Vietnamese literature and art 50 years after the country's reunification.

The first prize of the “Huong River Short Story Contest 2024” was awarded to author Le Vi Thuy (Gia Lai) with the work “Da Quynh”. Two second prizes were awarded to the works “Dem Ram Thang 7” by author Thao Giang and “Thanh Vat” by author Mac Yen. The third prize was awarded to author Tran Quynh Nga with the work “Uc Co Nhan”, author Le Hang with the work “Tu Duong” and author Bao Thuong with the work “Hue - Réunion”. In addition, the organizing committee also awarded 5 consolation prizes.

NHAT MINH