Vietnam: Writer wins the Southeast Asian Write Award for novel ‘Inside Infinity’

Viet Nam News via Asia News Network

13:33 JST, October 7, 2023

Vietnamese writer Vinh Quyen has won the Southeast Asian (SEA) Write Award for his novel “Inside Infinity.”

The main character of “Inside Infinity” is a Vietnamese young man who has lived in the United States for several years, collecting documents to write his master’s thesis, “The Country of Dai Nam — A Great Power of East Asia.”

One day, he discovers he has a father living alone in Hue, who has fallen into a coma. During this time, his father briefly regains consciousness, looks at his son, and holds his hand, marking their first and final connection. The young man goes to be with his father, who passes away just ten days later.

Those ten days in the deserted villa, exploring shelves of ancient books and “conversing” with his father, a Ph.D. in Ethnology, via scattered notes found on a laptop, the son spends his time searching for his roots. Each character’s journey of mending fractures to connect the infinite past of the clan and of the Vietnamese people is the theme of the novel.

“‘Inside Infinity’ assembles together various texts of various genres (notes, diary, short story, drama). While their common mission is to serve the narrative, nearly all of them stand independently. When readers encounter a text, they will become completely engrossed in it, at times even forgetting the novel itself. They will then realize that all these texts are in fact connected, and at the same time realize the value in reading them,” commented American writer Zac Herman.

Prior to the SEA Write Award, “Inside Infinity” won second prize in the Novel Competition 2016-19 of the Viet Nam Writers Association.

“Thai Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, on behalf of her father, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, awarded The SEA Write Award to me. It is an honor for writers in Southeast Asia,” Quyen told Viet Nam News.

“I believe the venerable founders of this award are not just about stimulating the specific achievements in literary creation but promoting mutual interest and understanding among the countries in the area because literature is an excellent means of cultural exchange. This award has contributed to changing the reality that has existed for centuries that people in Southeast Asia are experts in the history, culture, and news of the Western countries rather than those of their nearest neighboring countries.

“Therefore, I kindly expect all the works that have been granted with this award would be gathered in a Southeast Asia Literary Bookcase by the founders and would be translated into English, published, and introduced to the readers in and out of the region.”

Quyen, a member of the Viet Nam Writers Association and former head of the Lao Dong newspaper representative office in Central and Central Highlands, Vietnam, has authored 20 books in Vietnamese and three novels in English: “Debris of Debris,” “Inside Infinity,” and “Heart for Forest.”

His novel set in post-war Vietnam, Debris of Debris, was published in the U.S. in 2009 and in the United Kingdom in 2014. It won second prize in the Novel Competition of 2011-15 organized by the Viet Nam Writers Association and is archived at the Library of Congress in the U.S.

The SEA Write Award, also known as the Southeast Asian Writers Award, is an annual literary prize that recognizes outstanding works of literature by Southeast Asian writers.

It was established in 1979 by the Thai royal family in honor of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who was an accomplished writer himself. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards for three consecutive years (2019, 2020 and 2021) were presented together this year.

Alongside Quyen, Vietnam had two authors honored in 2019 and 2020 — poet Tran Quang Dao and writer Vo Khac Nghiem.