The cover of Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s Canh Dong Bat Tan.

Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in co-operated with the Viet Nam Writers’ Association, the contest will award prizes in the three categories of short story, life story and playwriting.

The event aims to help farmers express their feelings about their lives in a changing world, and encourages them to aspire and reach their goals.

Organisers say they hope Vietnamese writers, particularly young authors, will have more opportunities to win over readers and literacy critics through the contest.

A group of talented authors, including Huu Thinh and Le Van Thao, were invited to join in the jury.

The participants can submit their writing in no more than 7,000 words for the story genre and no more than 20 pages, on A4 paper, for the playwriting.

They should send their works by post to the Literature Managing Office, 51-53 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi.

The contest will close in late October and prizes will be awarded in December.

Writing seminar

“Writing about rural life and farmers is our duty,” said Le Van Thao, chairman of the HCM City Writers’ Association, speaking at a writing seminar held in An Giang Province’s Long Xuyen city last month.

Thao complained that many writers were focusing on urban life at the expense of discovering rural life, which is “a boundless source of inspiration for any artists in literature, art, theatre and movies.”

“Cultural authorities, publishers and writers should work more closely to introduce new, quality books featuring farmers’ daily lives, their ambitions, their opportunities and challenges,” he said.

Thao also called on members of local literary associations to increase their support for farmers.

“The beauty of the farmers’ lifestyle should be discovered under the eyes of writers,” said female author Pham Thi Ngoc Diep.

The seminar has attracted many veteran and young authors, literary and theatre critics in Ha Noi, HCM City, and from provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta region.

Bestsellers

The farmers in the contest might be inspired by one writer who has chosen a different path by focusing on rural life.

Published by the Tre (Youth) Publishing House, Canh Dong Bat Tan (Endless Fields) by Nguyen Ngoc Tu became a bestseller within hours of being displayed in HCM City bookshops in 2005.

Nearly 2,000 copies of the story sold after the first two days of its release.

The book, which featured the simple lifestyle of farmers living in Viet Nam’s southern regions, impressed both young and older readers.

Readers were surprised to discover that Tu was a rural resident who was not known in professional literary circles.

The Ca Mau Province-based Tu, who has been writing since 1995, gives readers a sense of her characters’ moments of confusion, disappointment and passion.

She vividly describes the vast forests and fields in the region.

“Tu’s writing is simple but meaningful, making her readers learn more about the culture and lifestyle of southern people, particularly farmers living in Ca Mau Province,” said Nguyen Minh Thuy, a reader in HCM City.

Tu’s Canh Dong Bat Tan was republished in a short story collection under the same name and honoured at the Southeast Asian Writers Awards ceremony last year.

The awards are held annually by the Thai Royal Family to encourage and honour poets and writers in the ASEAN region.

The Viet Nam Writers’ Association selected Tu’s book to participate the event award competition, with the aim of introducing a slice of Viet Nam’s contemporary literature.

VietNamNet/VNS