On December 14th, the awards ceremony for the 3rd Chùa Village Poetry Contest, themed "Poetry and Origins," took place in Hanoi . The contest was initiated in 2007 by the Chùa Village Poetry Association (Hoang Duong village, Son Cong commune, Ung Hoa district, Hanoi, now Son Tien commune, Hanoi).
The third competition, launched in February 2025, attracted over 500 participants, with more than 1,500 poems submitted, encompassing a wide range of writers from amateurs to renowned poets. Notably, this year's competition expanded beyond a small village, reaching across Vietnam and the world , including the United States, Colombia, Uganda, Uruguay, Romania, and many other countries. Participants wrote about their birthplaces, their ancestors, grandparents, parents, national history, their homeland, culture, life, and human aspirations.
A highlight of the competition is that all submitted poems are publicly posted on the personal Facebook page of poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, President of the Vietnam Writers Association and also the competition secretary. This approach creates a space for direct interaction between authors, readers, and the judging panel, helping to bring poetry closer to the contemporary public.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, poet Nguyen Quang Thieu said that the competition's theme, "Poetry and Roots," truly touched the hearts of the writers. Because everyone has the right and desire to express their love for the land that nurtured them, for their culture. According to poet Nguyen Quang Thieu, each collection of poems submitted was a unique voice, brimming with images and emotions about the land and people the author loved. Even if the land and people depicted in the poems were from distant and unfamiliar places... all contained the beauty and sacredness of earthly life.
The organizing committee awarded 3 A prizes, 7 B prizes, 16 C prizes, along with 5 Special prizes and 9 Contribution prizes. The A prizes went to the following authors: Ly Huu Luong with 3 works: “The Day My Mother Gave Birth to Me”, “The Person Folding Himself Up in a Blanket”, “Please Return to Be Filial to My Homeland”; Truong Xuan Thien with 3 poems: “Death Mystery”, “Plum Blossom”, “Eyes”; and Trang Thanh with 3 poems: “Words of a Small Fish”, “To My Father”, “Late Winter”.
The Special Prize was awarded to five authors who showcased the beauty of resilience in life. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to nine foreign poets who have contributed to poetry and friendship between nations.
Poet Nguyen Viet Chien, a member of the judging panel, shared that the winning works were diverse in style, but all shared a common point: the homeland was viewed as an irreplaceable cultural and spiritual space. The competition discovered several very new poetic voices to showcase. In particular, the works of renowned international poets elevated this competition to a new level.
On this occasion, the organizing committee of the Chùa Village Poetry Contest launched the poetry collection "The Sower" (Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House). The book, over 600 pages long, selects and compiles more than 500 works by over 250 participating authors from Vietnam and abroad. This poetry collection was sponsored by the Vietnam Fund for the Development of Literature and Arts.
In 1982, the Chùa Village Poetry Association was officially established; since then, the association has grown steadily, becoming an indispensable activity in the spiritual life of the people of Chùa Village (formerly Hoàng Dương Village, Sơn Công Commune, Ứng Hòa District, Hanoi, now Sơn Tiến Commune, Hanoi). This is considered the only village in Vietnam known as a "poetry village," because here, from children as young as 5-6 years old to the elderly, everyone can write poetry.
During discussions and poetry readings, members of the Chùa Village Poetry Association conceived the idea of organizing a poetry contest to encourage people from Chùa Village and those living abroad to write about their families and homeland. In that spirit, the first Chùa Village Poetry Contest was held in 2007. To date, it has been held three times, maintaining the same theme, "Poetry and Our Roots," a consistent and ever-expanding purpose.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/vinh-danh-40-tac-gia-doat-giai-cuoc-thi-tho-chu-de-tho-ca-va-nguon-coi-726826.html
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