'Poetry and Roots' Contest: Nine Foreign Authors Honored

On December 14th, the "Poetry and Roots" competition honored 40 outstanding authors with 3 A prizes, 7 B prizes, 16 C prizes, along with Special prizes and Contribution prizes.

The authors awarded the A prize include: Ly Huu Luong, Trang Thanh, and Truong Xuan Thien.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to foreign poets for their contributions to poetry and friendship between nations: Fernando Rendón (Colombia); Bruce Weigl (America); Murad Sudani (Palestine); Hilda Twongeirwe (Uganda); Julio Pavanetti (Spain); Marius Chelaru (Romania); and Taiwanese (China) poets: Chung Wi-Vu, Chen Ming-Jen, Chen Cheng-Hsiung.

Palestinian poet Murad Sudani (right) at the awards ceremony. (Photo: Khieu Minh/Vietnam+)

With its widespread appeal, the competition attracted a large number of amateur authors as well as renowned poets from Vietnam and around the world , including the United States, Colombia, Uganda, Uruguay, Romania, and many other countries. They wrote about their birthplaces, their ancestors, grandparents, parents, national history, their homeland, culture, life, and human aspirations.

The competition was first held in 2007 under the name "Chua Village Poetry Association" - a special poetry association located in a village with a long-standing tradition of loving and writing poetry. In 2022, the Chua Village Poetry Association (formerly Hoang Duong village, Son Cong commune, Ung Hoa district) was nominated in the "Work" category at the 15th Bui Xuan Phai Award - For the Love of Hanoi, organized by the Sports and Culture Newspaper (Vietnam News Agency).

Thus, what started as a poetry-loving movement in a village on the outskirts of Hanoi has spread globally.

Mr. Ngo Manh Cuong, Chairman of the Lang Chua Poetry Association and Head of the Organizing Committee of the competition, proudly stated that each person who composes poems can be called a sower. These are the seeds of a beautiful soul called poetry. These seeds are sown in the field of life, and then everyone will reap a harvest of compassion.

During the six-month period of the contest (from February to August 2025), the Organizing Committee received more than 1,500 poems from over 500 authors both domestically and internationally.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, President of the Vietnam Writers Association, served as the secretary of the competition. (Photo: Khieu Minh/Vietnam+)

Notably, all submitted poems were publicly posted on the personal Facebook page of poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, President of the Vietnam Writers Association and Secretary of the competition, for readers and members of the judging panel to evaluate and assess. This created a space for direct interaction, bringing poetry closer to readers.

Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu believes that the theme of the competition truly touched the hearts of the writers. Because everyone has the right and desire to express their love for the land that nurtured them.

"Each collection of poems submitted to the competition is a distinct voice, brimming with imagery and emotions about the land and people the author loves. Even if the land and people depicted in the poems are from distant lands, they all contain the beauty and sacredness of earthly life," poet Nguyen Quang Thieu expressed.

The judging panel for this year's competition includes renowned authors such as poet Nguyen Viet Chien, poet Dinh Thi Nhu Thuy, poet Pham Duong, poet Nguyen Ngoc Phu, and writer Pham Luu Vu.

Also on this occasion, the Organizing Committee of the competition launched the poetry collection "The Sower" (Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House), a volume of over 600 pages, which selects and compiles more than 500 works by over 250 authors who participated in the competition in Vietnam and abroad.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/cuoc-thi-tho-ca-va-nguon-coi-vinh-danh-9-tac-gia-nguoi-nuoc-ngoai-post1083000.vnp