Vietnam missed the opportunity to nominate a candidate for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature.

In a letter sent from Stockholm (Sweden) in December 2021, Anders Olsson, President of the Swedish Institute, suggested that Nguyen Quang Thieu nominate a Vietnamese author for consideration for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The letter reads as follows:

"Dear Mr. President of the Vietnam Writers Association,

On behalf of the Swedish Academy, we are honored to invite you to nominate a Vietnamese candidate for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature. We would appreciate a written explanation of the reasons for the nomination, although this is not mandatory. When considering candidates, we ask that you take into account genre, gender, and geography.

To be considered by the Committee, your nomination must be submitted to the Nobel Committee in preparation for discussion of the Award before January 31, 2022. The Nobel Committee will consider all nominations, with the nomination signed by the candidate themselves, and must be kept strictly confidential by both the nominator and the candidate.

Nominations must be sent to the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy. Nominations sent by email will not be accepted. Only nominations enclosed in envelopes will be accepted; postal mail will not be accepted.

This is the first time the Vietnam Writers Association has received this letter from the Nobel Committee; however, unfortunately, due to a problem with the letter being sent from Sweden, the President of the Vietnam Writers Association only received it on February 17th.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Thieu stated: "Although the nomination deadline has passed, I will still send a letter to the Nobel Committee to express my gratitude, and I hope the Nobel Committee will continue to send me a letter sooner during the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature selection process."

Khanh Ha