The cover of Hoang Viet Nhat Thong Du Dia Chi. The book has won the highest prize in Vietnam National Book Awards 2022. — Photo courtesy of Thai Ha Books

The book is about the Nguyen Dynasty, Le Quang Dinh (1759 – 1813), translated and annotated by Phan Dang. World Publishing House published it in affiliation with Thai Ha Joint Stock Company.

Hoang Viet Nhat Thong Du Dia Chi is considered the first geographical record of the Nguyen Dynasty, written right after Emperor Gia Long was crowned and in the process of reorganising and stabilising the imperial court after several chaotic centuries.

The book's release aimed to affirm the national territory and the independence and civilisation of a self-reliant nation in the early 19th century. It played an important role in the country's construction and the power of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The book's outstanding feature is the accurate description of the paths, stations, landmarks, mountains, rivers, streams, canals and estuaries, accompanied by specific explanations of the disadvantages and advantages of each locality.

Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Publicity and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (first left) and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (first right) presents the prizes to the representatives of the winning book. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyet

The 5th National Book Award Ceremony, organised by the Vietnam Publishing Association and the National Book Award Council, took place at the Voice of Vietnam Theatre on October 3.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam expressed his respect to generations of authors and officials working in the publishing field who created valuable works full of knowledge and history that fostered the Vietnamese soul in the past 70 years.

"The publishing industry, authors, and translators play an indispensable role in maintaining our nation's prosperity.

"Despite difficult conditions, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the publishing industry still strives to produce many books, many of which are valuable in content and form. But, more importantly, they have helped spread the contents of books, leaving a positive impact on the reading culture of Vietnamese people," he noted.

The Deputy Prime Minister hoped that the entire publishing industry would uphold its 70-year tradition to continue producing more beautiful works.

"And that means we are building up the nation's cultural heritage for thousands of years.

"We hope that, along with other solutions such as the celebration of the National Book Day, we will work together to make Vietnamese people more eager to learn and read. Therefore, the publishing industry and the National Book Award have held indispensable and increasingly important positions," he emphasised.

On behalf of the award recipient, Director and Editor-in-Chief of World Publishing House Pham Tran Long said: "The National Book Awards is the driving force for publishers to continue researching topics, expand cooperation, exploit manuscripts from diverse sources, learn from authors, translators and researchers to introduce more interesting and meaningful titles to readers."

The 5th National Book Awards has attracted the participation of 48 publishing houses nationwide with 298 titles and book series, including 386 books.

According to the evaluation of the organising board, the winning works have to showcase creativity or profound humane meaning. They could also be severe and elaborate research works with high scientific, social and practical values.

National Book Awards 2022 have been presented to 26 books and series, the highest of which, valued at VND100 million (US$4,200), has gone to Hoang Viet Nhat Thong Du Dia Chi by author Le Quang Dinh.

In addition, the organising board has also awarded 9 B prizes and 16 C prizes for high-quality books in both content and form.

The National Book Awards is a State-level award held annually, awarding books or series of outstanding value in terms of ideological, intellectual and aesthetic content.

It aims to honour authors, translators, scientists and publishers, contribute to the discovery, preservation and promotion of valuable works and support the domestic publishing industry to develop in the right direction and under the integration trend.

The awards consist of 3 levels, A, B and C prizes, which are granted for five categories: politics, economics; natural science and technology; social sciences and humanities; culture, literature and art; children.