Sixteen years ago, Nam Le's debut won a major literary prize. His follow-up has done it again
More than 16 years after Melbourne-based Nam Le burst onto Australia's literary scene to critical acclaim and a slew of prizes, his second publication has taken out book of the year in the 2025 NSW Literary Awards.
Le's hardcover volume 3 6 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem was also the winner of the individual category, Multicultural NSW Award ($30,000), for what judges said was a work of 'poetic brilliance, power and accessibility'.
Established in 1979, this year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards were presented at the NSW State Library on Monday night, kicking off the Sydney Writers' Festival.
The Vietnamese born writer was no older than a toddler when his parents brought him to Australia as they made their way as refugees on a boat.
In 2009, his acclaimed short story collection The Boat went on to win the NSW Premiers Literary Prize's book of the year as well as the American Pushcart Prize, among other notable awards.
Since those accolades, Le has ventured into screenwriting, and collaborated on an online graphic adaption of The Boat.
'My writing process is, in a word, slow,' Le told the Herald via a statement. 'I reckon I must have one of the worst words read/written/rewritten-to-published ratios around. A lot of iceberg for so little tip.'
In the years in between publications, Le said he had 'done a lot of living, a lot of writing'. He has two young children, and is still working on the long anticipated second work of fiction.
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