Vietnamese woman wins Taiwan Literature Awards for Migrants' top prize

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) Twenty-three-year-old Nguyễn Thị Hiền, from Vietnam, on Thursday won the top prize at the 10th Taiwan Literature Awards for Migrants with her work "The Rooftop Barber Shop" (頂樓的理髮店), along with NT$150,000 (US$5,005.67) in prize money.

The story centers on A-mei, a Vietnamese woman who runs a barber shop on the roof of an old building in Taichung. Instead of charging customers money, A-mei accepts mangoes, cookies, or sometimes just a simple "thank you."

With no home to return to, A-mei offers warmth to migrant workers who walk through her door, engaging them in heartfelt conversations that begin with, "So, how have you been?"

Director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真), one of the jurors, praised the work for its "natural and smooth flow" and its "apt depiction of the real world without an ounce of contrived emotion."

Wu said he was particularly impressed with the ending, which he described as "powerful," adding that the piece would make excellent material for a screen adaptation. "I almost called Taiwan Public Television Service to make a pitch," he said.

Fellow juror Nikky Lin (林巾力), former director of the National Taiwan Museum of Literature, noted that the piece had a strong structure, using detailed depictions of scenes and emotions to set the mood and paint a realistic picture.

This year's Taiwan Literature Awards for Migrants received 166 submissions from five countries, including 88 from Indonesia, 33 from Vietnam, 27 from the Philippines, 13 from Thailand, and five from Myanmar.

The entries underwent a two-stage vetting process. In the first round, jurors selected 35 works in their original languages. These longlisted pieces were then translated into Chinese for evaluation by the final-round jurors.

Notably, five "youth jurors" aged 15-20 participated in the process. All were children of a Taiwanese parent and a foreign spouse, chosen from a pool of around 60 applicants based on location, gender, education, and personal experience.

A full list of winners is available on the event's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/tlam.since2014/?locale=zh_TW).