Honoring Dong Nai literary and artistic works

With 203 entries by 103 authors competing across eight genres, the Dong Nai Literature and Arts Awards this year recorded a vibrant creative season, marked by the participation of a large number of authors from both within and outside the province.

The cai luong (traditional Vietnamese opera) production “Cai quoc chan hung,” written and directed by People’s Artist Que Anh, submitted for consideration for the 2025 Literature and Arts Awards. Photo: My Ny

More than an occasion to honor the serious artistic achievements of writers and artists, the 2025 Literature and Arts Awards vividly reflect the province’s literary and artistic life in a new phase, imbued with aspirations to develop culture and nurture the people of Dong Nai.

49 award-winning works

At a recent working session with the Council for the Selection of the 2025 Literature and Arts Awards, People’s Artist Giang Manh Ha, Chairman of the Dong Nai Literature and Arts Association, stated that the award-winning works successfully highlighted development achievements while authentically reflecting the cultural traditions, history, customs, and practices of the land and people of Dong Nai.

This year, 203 works by 103 authors were submitted for consideration, an increase compared to 2024, which saw 175 works by 71 authors. The Jury selected 49 works by 49 authors for awards, including 7 First Prizes (A), 12 Second Prizes (B), 17 Third Prizes (C), and 13 Consolation Prizes.

The 2025 Literature and Arts Awards did not receive submissions in the category of folk arts. The number of theoretical and critical works under consideration remained limited, as authors in this field have yet to publish or officially release works in accordance with the award regulations.

“The 2025 Literature and Arts Awards feature many new faces, mainly in the performing arts and fine arts fields such as theatre, photography, visual arts, and poetry. However, in literature, particularly prose, the number of young, emerging authors remains limited.”

Alongside familiar names in Dong Nai’s literary and artistic circles such as Nguyen Thai Hai, Dong Thi Que Anh, Nguyen Tri, Hoang Ngoc Diep, Cao Hong Son, Nguyen Viet Bac, and Doan Minh Ngoc, this year’s awards also saw the participation of many young authors, including Le Vu Anh Dao, Nguyen Tuan Nhut, Do Duy The, Tran Dinh Thang, and Nguyen Ngoc Cuong. Several works, Technology for Export-Grade Dried Mango (photography), Dialogue with the Forest (sculpture), and Kem and the Magical Friend – Season 2 (animated screenplay), demonstrated creative perspectives, strong exploratory spirit, and vivid reflections of contemporary life.

Sharing his experience of participating in the awards, writer Nguyen Thai Hai said: “The Literature and Arts Awards have been held annually since 2021. In literature, most books published by members of the Literature Division during the year are submitted, encompassing prose, poetry, children’s literature, and literary criticism. The awards are not only professional recognition but also a major source of encouragement, motivating writers and artists to continue their creative work.”

Nguyen Thai Hai also noted that in recent years, the Vietnam Writers’ Association and the Ho Chi Minh City Writers’ Association have separated children’s literature from the general prose category, establishing a dedicated award. Based on this practice, he proposed that the Dong Nai Literature and Arts Association consider creating a separate award category for children’s literature, thereby encouraging authors to invest more in creative work, meeting the growing reading demands of young audiences, and nurturing future generations of readers and writers for the province’s literary scene.

Spreading the Awards, Connecting Creative Forces

According to writer Trinh Bich Ngan, Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers’ Association and Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Writers’ Association (judge of the final round in the prose category), the number of prose works submitted this year exceeded that of previous seasons. This reality reflects the vibrancy and strong creative momentum of Dong Nai’s writers and artists.

The themes explored were diverse, ranging from social life, culture, and history to contemporary humanitarian issues. Most authors demonstrated professionalism in their writing, with clear plot structures, well-developed characters, careful language use, and increased attention to children’s themes, which were actively encouraged.

In photography, artist Nguyen Van Thuong, Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists and in charge of the Southeast region, observed that submissions for the 2025 Dong Nai Literature and Arts Awards showed marked progress in both quantity and quality. The content was richer and more diverse, with many photo series offering fresh perspectives and authentically capturing social rhythms and transformations of Dong Nai following administrative consolidation.

Notable themes included border areas, religion, landscapes, and labor life, expressed through strong aesthetic sensibility, humanistic depth, and increasingly solid photographic techniques.

People’s Artist Giang Manh Ha added that following the 2025 awards, the Association will coordinate with the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to promptly revise the regulations for the 2026 Dong Nai Literature and Arts Awards, ensuring alignment with the new context following administrative restructuring. In addition, the Association will continue to organize creative camps, exchanges, performances, and exhibitions to connect creative forces, discover and nurture young talents, and promote Dong Nai’s literary and artistic works to audiences both inside and outside the province.

For Dong Nai’s writers and artists, the 2025 Literature and Arts Awards are not only a milestone recognizing creative efforts over the past year but also a catalyst for innovation, exploration, and social responsibility in artistic creation. Through the awards, many valuable works have been introduced and widely disseminated to the public, vividly portraying the cultural landscape, human life, and the land of Dong Nai in a new stage of development.

By My Ny – Translated by Trieu Ngan, Minho