Proposal to regulate judging criteria to avoid poets judging prose

This was affirmed by Associate Professor Dr. Ta Quang Dong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) at the Workshop to collect opinions on the Decree regulating the encouragement of literary development. The workshop was organized by the MOCST on April 4, with the participation of managers, researchers, and people working in the field of literature and arts.

The draft Decree regulating the encouragement of literary development includes 7 chapters and 34 articles, regulating the encouragement of literary development including: Support and investment in literary activities; organizing writing camps, compositions, writing and composition competitions; awarding prizes; introducing, promoting and popularizing literature. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Quang Dong, the development of this Decree is not only a correct policy but also an urgent requirement in the face of new movements in social life and artistic creation.

Deputy Minister Ta Quang Dong and Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association Nguyen Binh Phuong listened to the opinions exchanged at the workshop.

Specifically, Mr. Dong said that as the world enters the digital age, literature is also undergoing strong changes. Electronic publishing platforms, digital books, online literature, artificial intelligence, etc. are posing new challenges and opportunities for writers. Currently, we have many policies to support and encourage the development of literature, but in reality, there are still gaps and challenges. That is, there is no strong enough funding and commissioning mechanism to create conditions for writers to pursue large topics with high ideological and artistic value. Writing camps have not really been effective, and have not created many works with widespread influence. Promotion and dissemination of literary works are still limited, causing many good works to not reach a wide audience at home and abroad.

This draft Decree is an important step forward in institutionalizing the viewpoints and policies of the Party and State, creating a more favorable legal corridor for the development of Vietnamese literature. The workshop is a forum for in-depth exchange and discussion among managers, researchers, writers, publishers, journalists and those working in the field of literature, aiming to contribute ideas to build an effective, feasible legal corridor that truly has an impact on promoting the sustainable development of Vietnamese literature.

Should consider regulations on organizing writing contests and creative camps

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Xuan Thach contributed many enthusiastic and practical ideas.

At the workshop, delegates expressed their agreement with the policy of encouraging literary development of the Decree Drafting Committee, and at the same time proposed many contents that need to be further considered and adjusted. Notably, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Xuan Thach, Head of the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that the regulations on investment support for literary activities, organizing writing camps, literary composition; writing competitions, literary composition... create complexity in the regulations, and at the same time give rise to problems in State management. If the units organizing national and local writing competitions or camps must notify the corresponding management agencies, there will be human resources to read and approve the notices. Therefore, the Drafting Committee should consider whether this is necessary or not because for a long time without this notice, the entities organizing the above activities are still very responsible for their own activities.

According to Mr. Thach, instead of stipulating that it is necessary to notify the state management agency, the Decree only needs to stipulate that information must be publicly and transparently announced on the official media about the above activities. In addition, it is necessary to design policies to mobilize resources from the whole society to invest in literary activities; organize writing and composition camps; organize writing and composition competitions and introduce, promote and popularize literary works. Many other views of Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Xuan Thach are also agreed by many writers and researchers. Specifically, the Decree should expand State investment and support for works with progressive and positive tendencies in life instead of only supporting works serving political tasks. A national database on literature should be built.

The workshop attracted many enthusiastic opinions from writers, researchers and managers.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa, Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association, said that there should be specific policies to mobilize all social resources to participate in the development of literature and the State should have more mechanisms and policies to support and encourage writers to create and disseminate their works. Organizing national literary awards is necessary, but it is also necessary to pay attention to avoid overlapping with other awards. Writer Dang Thi Thuy, Vice President of the Hai Phong Literature and Arts Association, suggested that for writing competitions, there should be clearer regulations on judging criteria to avoid the situation where poets judge prose works...

Source: https://cand.com.vn/van-hoa/de-nghi-quy-dinh-tieu-chi-giam-khao-tranh-tinh-trang-nha-tho-di-cham-van-xuoi-i764112/