DA NANG (VNS)— Vietnamese writer Thai Ba Loi has been awarded this year's Southeast Asian Writers Award by the Thai Royal Family.

Loi's 400-page novel, Minh Su (the Mastermind), which was written between 2004-09 in a farm at the foot of Ba Na Hills in Da Nang city, describes the life of Lord Nguyen Hoang (1525 - 1613) and reclaiming course the country toward the south under the Nguyen dynasty in the 16th century.

The course had undergone generations of nine lords and 13 Kings over two centuries.

The novel was published by Viet Nam's Writer Association and Phuong Nam company last year.

Born in 1945 in the Quynh Luu district of Nghe An Province, Loi started his career in 1971 when he joined the Vietnamese People's Army during the American war.

Loi, who is a member of Da Nang's Literature and Arts Union, has been the 17th Vietnamese writer to win the prize since 1996.

The SEA Writer Awards, which aims to honour the outstanding work of poets and writers in the Southeast Asian region, is held annually and was first organised in 1979 by the Thai Royal Family. — VNS