My poetry collection Footprints Across the Grassland was published in 1978 by the New Works Publishing House. This was the first collection of poems I wrote during my 5 years on the battlefield, from the moment I first set foot on Truong Son. In 1977, my first epic poem collection , Those Who Go to the Sea, was published (People's Army Publishing House). The first one was published later, but I was very happy, because it was not until 1978 that I had these two works. At that time, being published and getting paid was a great pleasure.
Poet, Lieutenant Thanh Thao - 1976
But in 1978 I had a very serious traffic accident and had to stay in the hospital from the fall of 1978 to the summer of 1979. I had no idea that my poetry collection Footprints Across the Grass was being considered by the Vietnam Writers Association Award Judging Council. Back then, information was something everyone wanted but didn’t have.
In the fall of 1979, I left the Military Region 5 Creative Camp, moved from Da Nang to Quy Nhon, from a lieutenant to a civilian officer, I had no opinion. With a backpack on my back, I went to Quy Nhon and immediately went to the 12 m2 room that Nghia Binh Newspaper assigned to my wife. So we had a family, and a house, although the house "leaked in the sun and rain", but for my wife and I, that was more than enough.
A few days after returning to Quy Nhon, I found out that I had won the Writers Association Award, because I read the news in the newspaper. I only knew that, and didn’t know anything else. I was happy, of course, but the joy wasn’t noisy, just happy like that.
A short time later, I received a letter from the Writers’ Association officially announcing that I had won the award. This is an annual award of the Vietnam Writers’ Association, but it was organized and awarded for the first time. There were two awards, a poetry award and a prose award. I remember that two authors received the prose award, but I can’t remember the authors’ names now, because it was 46 years ago.
If I had only received the award, including the prize money, it would not have been worth mentioning. It was not until a few years later, I think in 1982 or 1983, that writer Nguyen Thanh Long, from Quy Nhon, returned to work and visited his mother, who worked hard selling groceries at Cho Lon Quy Nhon, he met me and came to my house to visit, we confided in each other, he told me, and then I knew the story. It turned out that I had not won this award easily. Writer Nguyen Thanh Long was a member of the Judging Council, from the preliminary round to the final round, so he knew "six sentences" about this award. He said, in the final round, my poetry collection was lucky to make it in, but it was very precarious. Because there were only two poetry collections, two authors in this final round, and two to choose one. I had to compete with a "big tree" of Vietnamese poetry, poet Huy Can.
Mr. Huy Can had a poetry collection called The House in the Sun printed in Literature Publishing House in 1978. I only had a small footprint across the wild grassland, it seemed like this story was "an egg hitting a rock". At that time I was a young poet, if I was "out" (rejected) it would be normal. But the story that writer Nguyen Thanh Long told me, which he later wrote into a book, had a detail that was not in his book, I will tell you later.
In the book Che Lan Vien - the gardener of the century , in the article Two stories about Che Lan Vien , writer Nguyen Thanh Long wrote:
"The second story is about literature, the choice of one of two poetic works by Thanh Thao and Huy Can (annual poetry award of the Vietnam Writers Association in 1979). Che Lan Vien in Ho Chi Minh City had just come out, and the day before, he "charged" me with an inappropriate response: "Huy Can taught Thanh Thao, but Thanh Thao taught Huy Can?".
This issue was brought up at the meeting the next day. Xuan Dieu and Che Lan Vien talked all day, Thanh Thao had a chance to lose the prize. At the decisive moment, Che Lan Vien stood up holding Thanh Thao's poetry collection ( Footprints through the Grassland ) and said: "Wait, Huy Can cannot write poems like these, Mr. Xuan Dieu". Xuan Dieu was refuting enthusiastically, but suddenly became gentle. Xuan Dieu said: "But I don't understand how Thanh Thao can write poems like that without knowing it".
In a private conversation, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long also told me this detail: When the debate at the Award Council seemed "inconclusive", suddenly poet Che Lan Vien proposed a solution: "I suggest that each member of the Council put two poetry books in front of them, please open any page from Huy Can's poetry collection and read it aloud, then open any page from Thanh Thao's poetry collection and read it, we will have a conclusion". After this surprising and interesting confrontation of poetry, the entire Poetry Award Council came to a consensus, very gently. It was a choice that was both fair and serious. The person whose work was chosen for the award was very happy, and the person who was not chosen was not sad either.
It must be said that 46 years ago, the Literary Award Judging Council of the Writers' Association selected the final round works in this way. Our Writers' Association Judging Councils today should refer to this impartial and interesting selection method, so that "no one is left behind", even if they do not receive an award.
Several years after receiving the award, in 1983, I finally met poet Xuan Dieu in person. The meeting over a glass of beer was very enjoyable, from then until the end of his life, poet Xuan Dieu considered me as a younger brother. He loved me very much, and I often went with him to Tuy Phuoc, Xuan Dieu's mother's hometown.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-ve-hoi-dong-cham-giai-thuong-van-hoc-185250115103202986.htm
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