HÀ NỘI — Vương Bạch Liên won the first prize in the journalism writing contest Young Francophones Reporters –Việt Nam 2016, which was organised for the first time by Le Courrier du Vietnam (CVN), a weekly French language newspaper under Vietnam News Agency.

Liên won the prize with two French language reportages. The first features the daily life of Mông ethnic group in Mèo Vạc in northern mountainous Hà Giang province; and the second portrays her meetings with members of different ethnic groups in Trạm Tấu District of Yên Bái Province whose generosity highly impressed her.

She said she was touched by the courage, innocence and optimism of the people she met in Mèo Vạc and Trạm Tấu, despite their life hardships.

Her two reportages were highly appreciated by the jury for the originality of the subjects, beautiful writing style in fluent French, and illustrative photos.

Liên, who is currently a reporter at the Việt Nam News, started learning French at the age of 12 and has fallen in love with the language that she finds “very beautiful”.

“This contest has an important significance because it allows young Francophone people like me to show our love of the French language and of our country Việt Nam,” she said.

“I believe that this contest will encourage more and more young people in Việt Nam to learn French and that Việt Nam will further strengthen its active role in the Francophonie in the near future.”

Previously, in 2003, she also had won first prize at the song lyrics writing contest entitled UTOPIA for young Francophone in Việt Nam, which was organised for the first time outside Europe.  

The second prize of Young Francophones Reporters –Việt Nam 2016 went to Nguyễn Thủy Tiên from Hà Nội, with the entry entitled Vendeur De Rue (Street Vendor), and the third prize was presented to Nguyễn Thị Thùy Linh from the northern province of Quảng Ninh with the story Le Sourire de L’ancinne Maison (The Smile of the Ancient House).

This competition, with the theme “The power of words” aims to encourage young Francophone living in Việt Nam aged from 18 to 35 years old to write articles about Việt Nam in French language, while showing the vitality of French language, through their talents of writing and illustration.

It provides an opportunity for Vietnamese and foreign participants to express their feelings, emotions and points of view about the country, while highlighting the richness and diversity of the French language.

Launched from May 10 to August 31, the organisation board received 57 entries across the country, from Hà Nội to southern provinces like Cần Thơ, and even one entry by a border guard from the central province of Nghệ An, who won prize of impression.

“The competition has fulfilled its initial goals, which are to promote the image of the only French-language newspaper in Việt Nam, to create a playground of creativity for young Francophones in Việt Nam, to offer chances for contestants to familiarise themselves with journalism as well as to introduce Việt Nam’s culture and people to the community of 80 Francophonie countries”, said Nguyễn Thu Hà, the editor-in-chief of CVN.

The competition is supported by the Asia Pacific Regional Office (BRAP) of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), the Group of Francophone embassies and international delegations to Việt Nam (GADIF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and others.

The jury of the contest was composed of journalists, French language teachers, writers, representatives of OIF and of different Francophone embassies.  — VNS