Writer Nguyen Thanh Viet (Photo: baoquocte.vn)
According to the website of the Pulitzer Council, Nguyen Thanh Viet is currently a professor at the University of Southern California and a commentator for the New York Times.
Accordingly, he has become one of the 19 members of the Pulitzer Prize Jury Council, selected from excellent journalists or veteran American media figures, as well as figures in fields of academic, culture and arts. Each member of the Jury Council may serve three terms, each lasting three years.
"The impressive experiences of Nguyen Thanh Viet as a novelist, journalist, essay writer and scholar make him a great newcomer to the jury amid a turbulent era," Mr. Stephen Engelberg and Mrs. Aminda Marqués Gonzalez, Co-Chairs of the Pulitzer Prize Jury, when evaluating the participation of the Vietnamese origin writer
"It is an honor to be selected on the Pulitzer Prize Board. As a lucky Pulitzer Prize successor, I understand how the award will affect the writer's career and the perceptions of readers. I am glad to join the important work of the council," Professor Nguyen Thanh Viet recently shared on his personal Twitter.
Writer Nguyen Thanh Viet was born in 1971 in Dak Lak province. He went to live in the US when he was 4 years old. In 2016, his first novel “The Sympathizer” won the Pulitzer Prize for fictional work in 2016 and many other awards later. In 2017, Nguyen Thanh Viet's collection of short stories named “The Refugees” was published in Vietnam.
His most recent work is “Chicken of the Sea”, a children's book written with his 6-year-old son. He is completing “The Committed”, the next book of “The Sympathizer” novel, which is scheduled to be released in March 2021.
Vietnamese train ride listed among world’s top 10 train journeys
The train line linking Hanoi and Da Nang, operated by Vietnam’s Reunification Express, has recently been listed among the 10 best train journeys in the world by the Conde Nast Traveller – a prestigious travel magazine, according to the Nhan Dan Online.
Photo for illustration (Source: vnexpress.net)
The list was made by British journalist and travel writer Monisha Rajesh based on her book ‘Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure’.
According to the author, starting in Hanoi, the Reunification Express runs the length of the country right down to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, of which the finest segment is the first half of the journey to Da Nang.
Threading deep into the capital city, the train offers voyeuristic views into the backs of houses as families unwind for the night, before emerging into glorious sunshine the following morning, she wrote.
Climbing for miles through the jungle, banana leaves flapping against the windows, the train comes within inches of villagers’ walls and gardens, so close that you can make eye contact and wave.
At the final stretch, the train curls around the clifftops overlooking the sea where a finger of golden sand runs along the edge of the water in Lang Co Bay, before finally pulling into Da Nang Station.
Other train journeys in Asia are also named in the list, including Tokyo to Osaka, Japan, by Tokaido Shinkansen; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Beijing, China, by the Trans-Mongolian Express; Bangkok to Nam Tok by Thailand’s Death Railway; Xining to Lhasa, China, by Qinghai-Tibet Railway; and Mumbai to Madgaon, India, by the Mondovi Express.
Ben Tre exports first batch of fruit to EU under EVFTA
The first batch of fruit from Ben Tre sent to the European Union (EU) with a zero tax rate under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was announced on Thursday (Sep 17), the Nhan Dan Online said.
Photo for illustration (Source: tourdulichviet.com)
This afternoon, at the headquarters of the Vina T&T Group in Chau Thanh District in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and local authorities announced the exportation.
Accordingly, the Vina T&T Group will export one container of 20,000 fresh coconuts by sea and three tonnes of dragon fruit by air to the EU market.
The company, with its advanced technologies and modern equipment in the field of fruit production, processing and exporting, has met the requirements needed to serve the EU market.
Statistics from the MARD showed that after more than a month since the EVFTA took effect this August, many export products of Vietnam have witnessed positive changes in the EU market. Of which, a number of agricultural products have been exported to this most selective of markets, such as brackish shrimp from Ninh Thuan Province, coffee and passion fruit from Gia Lai Province, and now fruit from Ben Tre.
Fruit is one of the main Vietnamese export items to the EU market. In the first seven months of 2020, fruit exports to this market reached USD59.18 million, accounting for 73.54% of the total value of fruit and vegetable exports to the EU./.