Read a version of this article in Vietnamese
The Independent Vietnamese Writers’ Association has awarded a prestigious prize to a mystery winner. The group said it was concerned the writer may be targeted by authorities in a country where freedom of expression is rarely tolerated.
The association’s literature award council announced the three winners of the 2024 Vietnamese Literature Award on March 3.
Bui Vinh Phuc was awarded the Research-Criticism Prize for a series of articles and Khe Iem received the Translation Prize for his translation of American poetry in “A Memorable Time.” Both live in the United States.
Poetry Prize Winner Not Named
A poet who lives in Vietnam won the Poetry Prize, picked by all five of the judges including Vietnamese-Canadian poet, literary critic and translator Nguyen Duc Tung. However, the judges chose not to identify the winner for security reasons.
In March 2022, poet Thai Hao was beaten by strangers and prevented from receiving the 2021 poetry award while police officers stood by.
Two months later, literary critic Nguyen Thi Tinh Thy declined the writers’ association’s award for her book “Dare to Look Back” saying she wanted to “avoid affecting the general security situation” in Vietnam. She said the police had warned her not to accept the award.
Association member Hoang Dung said foreign-based winners might also prefer to remain anonymous if they lived in Vietnam.
“If those people were in the country, they would all be under pressure from the state,” Dung explained, adding that Vietnam-based winners had not been named for several years.
“Some people resisted that pressure and still agreed to accept the award, so we announced their names. But many people could not bear it and refused to accept the award.”
He said that in the past, the Vietnamese Literature Council often said “no award” when the winner declined to accept it..
Nothing to do with politics
This year, the council changed its approach, saying it would only announce the names of domestic winners “when Vietnam is more democratic and the Vietnamese government is progressive enough to not threaten citizens when they receive literary prizes.”
Having to keep the names secret is proof that Vietnam is not democratic, Dung said, adding that this year’s poetry prize winner had “absolutely nothing to do with politics.”
No writer won the Literature Prize this year because no work received votes from at least four of the five judges.
The winner of the Vietnamese Literature Council Award receives a certificate from the council president and US$1,000. The winner of the Council President’s Award gets a certificate and a cash prize of $500.
Renaming the writers’ association
On March 3, 2014, the campaign to establish the Independent Writers Association of Vietnam was announced. On March 3 this year, chairman and writer Nguyen Ngoc announced it was changing its name to the Independent Writers’ Association Club of Vietnam.
He said the reason was a government decree released last October, which stated that even the association’s organizing committee must be recognized by the state.
“The nature and mission of the Independent Vietnamese Writers' Club remain the same: it is a civil society organization, a professional fraternity, completely independent of all organizational systems and institutions at home and abroad,” Ngoc said in a statement.
The government’s Decree No. 126 stipulates that the organizing committee for the establishment of an association must register and wait for approval from the relevant authority. However, group activities in the form of “clubs” do not have to be registered.
Creation or confrontation?
Former association head Hoang Thuy Hung said the association added “club” to its name because members didn’t want any trouble from authorities.
“Writers do not confront anyone, their main job is to create,” Hung said.
“Gathering together is only intended to improve the creative situation and protect their legitimate rights.”
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But writers should have the right to confront, according to the literary group PEN America. It argues that Vietnam is using the law to suppress free speech and lock up those who seek to exercise their basic right to freedom of expression.
“Writers, journalists, and activists in Vietnam are likely to become more hesitant to report human rights violations or engage in advocacy, fearing … punitive measures,” PEN America’s Anh-Thu Vo, manager of research and advocacy for the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Center, said last October.
“It’s likely that your family will be harassed and you could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.”
“Even those who flee to neighboring countries like Thailand have faced continued intimidation and the threat of deportation. Activists remain vulnerable to surveillance, intimidation, and potential deportation, even as many seek asylum,” Vo said.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.