Vietnam Writers Association 'bravely' awarded prizes to three prose works at the same time

Các tác giả được trao giải thưởng Hội Nhà văn Việt Nam năm 2023 - Ảnh: T.ĐIỂU — Authors awarded the Vietnam Writers Association Award 2023 - Photo: T.DIEU

The 2023 Vietnam Writers Association Awards Ceremony was held at the association's headquarters, with six works awarded, of which three were awarded for prose.

They are the novel Sixth Hour to Ninth Hour by author Nguyen Mot; the short story collection A Summer Under the Shade of a Tree by author Nguyen Tham Thien Ke and the novel Absolute Traceless by author Nguyen Viet Ha in the prose genre.

The genre of critical theory is given to Literary autonomy and the mission of freedom (edited by Phung Ngoc Kien - Doan Anh Duong), the book is published by Tao Dan, the Writers Association Publishing House.

In the genre of poetry given to The Faded Lotus Field by author Nguyen Phuc Loc Thanh.

Children's literature genre give Linh fish goes to school by Le Quang Trang - a young author of the 9X generation.

In the translated literature category, the final jury decided not to award any prizes.

Tác giả Đức Anh nhận giải thưởng Tác giả trẻ năm 2023 duy nhất - Ảnh: T.ĐIỂU — Author Duc Anh received the only Young Author Award in 2023 - Photo: T.DIEU

This season reminds me of last season

Regarding the fact that this year the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers' Association awarded prizes to three prose works, Mr. Nguyen Binh Phuong said that this was the "courage" of the association's Executive Committee.

The bravery lies in the fact that "this move, whether we like it or not, has partly given literature lovers the opportunity to associate and compare it with the prose award ceremony in 1991, 33 years ago."

Mr. Phuong mentioned the most notable award in the history of the Vietnam Writers Association in 1991, which also awarded three prose works: The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh; The Land of Many People and Many Ghosts by Nguyen Khac Truong; and The Wharf Without a Husband by Duong Huong.

These three works, after more than 30 years, still affirm their great value, and the three authors all became great names in Vietnamese literature after Doi Moi.

Regarding the three prose authors awarded this year, besides Nguyen Viet Ha, a name that has established a certain position in the literary world, Nguyen Mot and Nguyen Tham Thien Ke are quite surprising names to many literature lovers.

Mr. Phuong commented that Nguyen Mot's Sixth Hour to the Ninth Hour demonstrates his bravery through an independent and objective perspective on issues that have been assumed, thereby reflecting on the resilient and also risky existence of individuals in unpredictable and dangerous historical periods and situations.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tham Thien Ke's A Summer Under the Shade of a Tree is highly appreciated for its courage, breaking sentence structure and refreshing language in its own way while still creating empathy with the reader.

Mr. Phuong said that leaving the 2023 translated literature award vacant is, in the eyes of many, quite regrettable. Because it does not accurately reflect the rich breadth of quantity and depth of translation quality of the year.

Young authors indifferent to awards?

In the Young Author Award system, this year, the number of works participating in the award is quite modest, stopping at 14. The final jury decided to award only one prize to the fantasy novel Double Life: Living Two Lives by author Duc Anh.

So, the third season of the Young Author Award "lost its season" when the number of submitted works was modest and only one work was selected to be awarded, instead of many works in many genres like the previous two seasons.

Mr. Phuong said that although it is determined that literary creation is not a steady cycle over the years, but has ups and downs, the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association "still needs to thoroughly research, analyze, and evaluate this phenomenon of decline."