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Thursday, 20/12/2018 09:55

Hà Nội writer wins Lifetime Literature Award

Writer Nguyen Xuan Khanh and the cover of one of his works. — Photo courtesy of the Viet Nam Writers’ Association
Viet Nam News

HA NOI — Writer Nguyen Xuan Khanh from Ha Noi has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Literary Award for his contribution to the literature in Viet Nam.

At a meeting of the Executive Board of the Ha Noi Writers’ Association – which is also the final judgment board for the Viet Nam Literature Award – on Monday, a vote showed total support for the decision to present the writer with the award.

Born in 1933 in Ha Noi, Khanh is the author of popular short stories and novels including Rung sau (Deep forest), Mien hoang tuong (Paranormal), Ho Quy Ly, Hai dua tre va con cho Meo xom nui (Two children and a dog in mountain village), Doi Gao Len Chua (Bring Rice to the Pagoda), Mua que (Countryside Rain), Mau thuong ngan (Mountain Goddess) and Chuyen ngo ngheo (Poor Alley’s Tale).

His work on the founder of the Ho dynasty Ho Quy Ly (1336-1407), published in 2000, and Mau thuong ngan published in 2006 have been reprinted many times due to their precious historical and cultural insights.

Khanh won two awards from the Ha Noi Writers Association in 2001 and 2006. His novel Doi Gao Len Chua won the association’s top prize in 2011.

Doi Gao Len Chua was published in 2011 by the Women’s Publishing House and created a stir in the local literary scene. The novel was highly acclaimed by not only literary critics but also the wider reading public.

The novel, which sold out its initial print run and was reprinted two more times over three months, has also won acclaim for explaining the origins of Buddhism in Viet Nam.

Khanh once told online newspaper vietnamnet that he drew on many of his personal experiences to write the novel.

The novel highlights the role of Buddhism in tough times, especially during Viet Nam’s struggle for independence.

Also at the meeting, with seven out of eight votes, the Translation Literary Prize for 2018 was awarded to Extinction, a novel by Thomas Bernhard from Austria translated into Vietnamese as Diet Vong by Hoang Dang Lanh.

The Executive Committee of the Ha Noi Writers’ Association said this year it did not award prizes to any work of poetry, analysis or criticism. It did not award a poetry prize last year either. — VNS

The cover of Doi Gao Len Chua (Bring Rice to the Pagoda), a novel by Nguyen Xuan Khanh which won the Ha Noi Writers Association’s top prize in 2011. — Photo courtesy of the writer

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